Relazione tra linfoadenopatia del legamento epatoduodenale e risposta alla terapia anti-virale in pazienti con epatite cronica HCV-correlata

Usefulness of alpha-fetoprotein in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

With the widespread use of ultrasonography (US) and computerized tomography (CT), the usefulness of α-fetoprotein assay in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has decreased. The aim of our study was to evaluate the best cut-off value for serum α-fetoprotein to discriminate between liver cirrhosis (LC) and HCC and the factors influencing levels in a Sicilian population. Three hundred and seventy-two patients with LC and 197 with HCC-associated LC were studied. The etiology was: HCV in 288 cases (77.4%) of LC and 147 cases (75%) of HCC; HBV in 31 cases (8.3%) of LC and 15 cases (7.6%) of HCC; HCV/HBV in 21 cases (5.6%) of LC and 6 cases (3.0%) of HCC; non-viral in 32 cases (8.6%) …

Mycophenolate mofetil plus low-dose calcineurin inhibitor for renal dysfunction in liver transplant: A 24-month controlled clinical trial

Esiste un pattern ecografico associato alla steatosi capace di facilitare il suo riconoscimento etiologico?

Ultrasound detection of abdominal lymph nodes in chronic liver diseases. A retrospective analysis

Aim: To retrospectively evaluate the prevalence of lymph nodes of the hepato-duodenal ligament in a group of patients with chronic liver disease of various aetiologies and to investigate what clinical, aetiological and laboratory data may lead to their appearance. Materials and methods: One thousand and three patients (554 men, 449 women) were studied, including 557 with chronic hepatitis and 446 with liver cirrhosis. The presence of lymph nodes near the trunk of the portal vein, hepatic artery, celiac axis, superior mesenteric vein and pancreas head was investigated using ultrasound. Results: Lymph nodes were detected in 394 out of the 1003 study patients (39.3%); their number ranged from …

Hemodynamic changes in splanchnic circulation after orthotopic liver transplantation in patients with liver cirrhosis

Background: Liver cirrhosis increases portal vein pressure and alters the splanchnic circulation. With Doppler sonography, we investigated the hemodynamic changes in the portal vein, superior mesenteric artery, hepatic and splenic arteries and spleen size in a group of patients with end-stage liver disease before and after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Methods: Ten patients (seven male, three female; mean age = 48.8 ± 7.6 years) who underwent OLT for liver cirrhosis mainly associated with hepatitis C virus infection completed the study. The control group consisted of 10 patients matched by sex and age who had no gastroenterologic or vascular diseases. All patients underwent duplex…

Two yr mycophenolate mofetil plus low-dose calcineurin inhibitor for renal dysfunction after liver transplant

We assessed the efficacy and outcome of low through level of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) and introducing mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in liver transplant (LT) patients with CNI-related renal dysfunction. Thirty LT patients were converted to combined therapy and compared with 30 patients used as a contemporary control group receiving CNI only. The two groups were matched for sex, age, months after LT, immunosuppressive treatment, creatinine level, presence of diabetes and calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) via Cockroft-Gault method. After two years, in the MMF serum creatinine decreased from 1.65 mg/dL (range 1.33-3.5) to 1.4 mg/dL (range 0.9-4.7) (p = 0.002) and GFR increased from …

Perihepatic lymph nodes and antiviral response in chronic HCV-associated hepatitis.

To identify predictive factors of response to interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) plus ribavirin therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), the presence of lymphadenopathy (LyA) of the hepatoduodenal ligament and other variables were investigated. A total of 110 patients with histologically proven CHC were enrolled in this study. Ultrasound (US) was performed at the start and end of therapy and 6 months after stopping therapy. At baseline, LyA was present in 35 (43.7%) of 80 patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values and grading was significantly higher than in the LyA-negative group. LyA was more frequent in nonresponders (nonR) than in relapsers (relR) or sustained responders (…