Search results for "Fibrosis"

Congenital Cystic Lesions of the Bile Ducts: Imaging-Based Diagnosis

2020

Congenital cystic lesions of the bile ducts represent a spectrum of liver and biliary system lesions, resulting from abnormal embryologic development of the ductal plate. These disorders include Caroli disease, choledochal cysts, autosomal dominant polycystic liver disease, congenital hepatic fibrosis, and biliary hamartomas. Each disorder carries a peculiar clinical presentation, prognosis, and risk of complications. Knowledge of radiological findings of fibropolycystic liver diseases is crucial for their appropriate detection and for differential diagnosis with other similar hepatic cystic lesions, in order to avoid relevant misdiagnosis. The aim of this review is to provide an illustrati…

The Relevance of Noninvasive Tools To Assess Fibrosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

2020

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide, involving about 25% of people. NAFLD incorporates a large spectrum of pathological conditions, from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and its complications include hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This progression occurs, over many years, in an asymptomatic way, until advanced fibrosis appears. Thus, the differentiation of NASH from simple steatosis and identification of advanced hepatic fibrosis are key issues. To date, the histological assessment of fibrosis with liver biopsy is the gold standard, but obviously, invasiveness is the …

Antifibrotic therapies in the liver.

2015

Significant progress has been made in understanding the principles underlying the development of liver fibrosis. This includes appreciating its dynamic nature, the importance of active fibrolysis in fibrosis regression, and the plasticity of cell populations endowing them with fibrogenic or fibrolytic properties. This is complemented by an increasing array of therapeutic targets with known roles in the progression or regression of fibrosis. With a key role for fibrosis in determining clinical outcomes and encouraging data from recently Food and Drug Administration-approved antifibrotics for pulmonary fibrosis, the development and validation of antifibrotic therapies has taken center stage i…

Hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. Current status.

2016

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects around 150 million people. It is a leading cause of liver related morbidity and mortality through its predisposition to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and end-stage liver complications. New treatments based on direct-acting antivirals have opened a new era in the management of HCV cirrhosis. They allow for HCV eradication without substantial side effects in almost all cirrhotic patients, reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, liver decompensation and mortality. This review provides an update on HCV cirrhosis. The paper focuses on the disease burden and major progresses in the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of this patient subgroup.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for fibrotic liver disease: Hope and hype

2014

Targeted therapy of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis and its complications.

2011

Department of Pharmacokinetics, Toxicology, and Targeting, University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands; Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Division of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany

Progression of liver fibrosis in post-transplant hepatitis C: mechanisms, assessment and treatment.

2013

SummaryLiver fibrosis results from an excessive wound healing response in most chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis C. Despite great advances in antiviral therapy in recent years, progressive liver fibrosis remains a major problem for patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation. Liver biopsy remains a central tool in the management of HCV-positive liver transplant recipients, but reliable non-invasive methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis, such as ultrasound elastography, are increasingly being incorporated in the management of post-transplant patients, helping predict prognosis, guide treatment decisions, and stratify patients for emerging antifibrotic thera…

Anti-fibrotic therapy: lost in translation?

2012

While preclinical development of potential anti-fibrotics is far advanced, with numerous pharmacological targets and promising agents, almost none has entered clinical validation. Reasons are manifold, including the usually slow progression of liver fibrosis, requiring high numbers of well-stratified patients undergoing long-term treatment when conventional liver biopsy based parameters or hard liver-related endpoints are used. Importantly, there is a notorious lack of sensitive and specific surrogate markers or imaging technologies for liver fibrosis progression or regression that would permit a rapid clinical screening for potential anti-fibrotics. Nonetheless, in view of an urgent need f…

Population screening for liver fibrosis: Toward early diagnosis and intervention for chronic liver diseases

2022

Population screening; Liver fibrosis; Early diagnosis Cribratge de població; Fibrosi hepàtica; Diagnòstic precoç Cribado de población; Fibrosis hepática; Diagnóstico precoz Cirrhosis, highly prevalent worldwide, develops after years of hepatic inflammation triggering progressive fibrosis. Currently, the main etiologies of cirrhosis are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease, although chronic hepatitis B and C infections are still major etiological factors in some areas of the world. Recent studies have shown that liver fibrosis can be assessed with relatively high accuracy noninvasively by serological tests, transient elastography, and radiological methods. Thes…

Lifestyle Changes for the Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - A 2015-19 Update.

2020

Background: Lifestyle interventions aimed at weight loss have been associated with improved liver enzymes, reduced intrahepatic triglyceride content, and improved histology (including reduced fibrosis stage). Objective: To revise the evidence on the beneficial effects of lifestyle changes accumulated since 2015, following the publication of the pivotal Cuban experience with histologic outcome. Methods: A PubMed search covering the period 2015 to July 2019 was carried out. All retrieved references were analyzed and double-checked by authors. Results: 20 new studies were identified; in addition, two relevant studies provided new evidence. Thirteen studies were classified as randomized, contr…