Search results for "Liver function"
showing 10 items of 176 documents
The prognostic value of thyroid function tests in predominantly non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients: A prospective investigation
1985
The prognostic value of thyroid function parameters (T3, T4, rT3 and the rT3: T3 ratio) and common liver tests (serum bilirubin, albumin and prothrombin activity) was investigated on hospital admission in 100 consecutive patients with predominantly non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Twenty-nine out of 100 patients had a well compensated cirrhosis and their mean values of thyroid tests were similar to those of 40 healthy controls. A low T3 syndrome was found in the remaining 71 decompensated patients. In these thyroid function parameters were correlated with serum bilirubin and prothrombin activity. Moreover mean values of all thyroid and liver tests, except serum albumin, were significantly dif…
Treatment of chronic hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa: 1-year results of a pilot program in Ethiopia
2018
Background The World Health Organization has set an ambitious goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is virtually unavailable. Herein, we present the 1-year results of a pilot CHB treatment program in Ethiopia. Methods At a public hospital in Addis Ababa, CHB patients were treated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate based on simplified eligibility criteria. Baseline assessment included liver function tests, viral markers, and transient elastography (Fibroscan). Changes in laboratory markers were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Adherence to therapy was measured by …
Risk Factors in Patients With Rapid Recurrent Hepatitis C Virus–Related Cirrhosis Within 1 Year After Liver Transplantation
2009
Abstract Background Recurrent cirrhosis (RC) due to pretransplant underlying disease leads to organ failure and subsequent death after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). RC occurs in up to 30% of patients with recurrent hepatitis C (HCV) within 5 years after OLT. We sought to identify early risk factors for rapid RC within the first year after OLT in HCV-positive patients. Methods Among 404 liver transplanted patients at the University of Mainz between 1998 and 2008, 90 were HCV-RNA positive. To identify predictive factors for rapid RC, we compared HCV-positive patients with advanced fibrosis stages within 1 year after OLT ( n = 13) with these without RC at 5 years after OLT ( n = 23).…
Cathepsin D serum mass concentrations in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and/or liver cirrhosis
1996
Cathepsin D serum mass concentrations were determined by enzyme immunoassay in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 51) and/or liver cirrhosis (n = 92) or benign steatosis (n = 16) and correlated with some biochemical and clinical properties of these diseases. Increased cathepsin D serum mass concentrations (P < 0.001) were observed in all these groups of patients as compared to normal subjects (n = 98). However, patients with steatosis had serum mass concentrations of this enzyme significantly lower (mean 2—3 fold) than those measured in cancer patients (P < 0.05) or cirrhotic patients (P < 0.001). Interestingly, significantly higher cathepsin D serum mass concentrations (m…
Parallel reduction of plasma levels of high and low molecular weight kininogen in patients with cirrhosis
1999
SummaryLittle is known about the regulation of high-molecular-weight-kininogen (HK) and low-molecular-weight-kininogen (LK) or the relationship of each to the degree of liver function impairment in patients with cirrhosis. In this study, we evaluated HK and LK quantitatively by a recently described particle concentration fluorescence immunoassay (PCFIA) and qualitatively by SDS PAGE and immunoblotting analyses in plasma from 33 patients with cirrhosis presenting various degrees of impairment of liver function. Thirty-three healthy subjects served as normal controls. Patients with cirrhosis had significantly lower plasma levels of HK (median 49 μg/ml [range 22-99 μg/ml]) and LK (58 μg/ml [15…
Ultrasound detection of abdominal lymph nodes in chronic liver diseases. A retrospective analysis
2003
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 …
Transient elastography: A non-invasive tool for assessing liver fibrosis in HIV/HCV patients
2010
AIM: To assess the prevalence of advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV/HCV patients using transient elastography, and to identify factors associated with ALF. METHODS: Between September 2008 and October 2009, 71 HIV mono-infected, 57 HIV/HCV co-infected and 53 HCV mono-infected patients on regular follow-up at our Center were enrolled in this study. Alcohol intake, the main parameters of liver function, presence of HCV-RNA, HIV-RNA, duration of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and CD4 cell count were recorded. ALF was defined as liver stiffness (LS) ≥ 9.5 kPa. To estimate liver fibrosis (LF) a further 2 reliable bio…
Effects of Fractionated Plasma Separation and Adsorption on Survival in Patients With Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure
2012
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fractionated plasma separation and adsorption (FPSA) is an extracorporeal procedure that supports liver function by removing endogenous toxins that cause complications from acute-on-chronic liver failure (AOCLF). We performed a randomized trial to investigate survival of patients with AOCLF treated with FPSA. METHODS: Patients with AOCLF were randomly assigned to groups given a combination of FPSA and standard medical therapy (SMT) (FPSA group, n = 77) or only SMT (SMT group, n = 68). The Prometheus liver support system was used to provide 8 to 11 rounds of FPSA (minimum of 4 hours each) for 3 weeks. Primary end points were survival probabilities at days 28 and 90, irresp…
Long-term management and prognosis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH): a single center experience.
2001
Background Controlled trials have firmly established the need for immunosuppressive therapy in autoimmune hepatitis. However, reports about long-term management and prognosis of the disease are scarce. Patients and methods We reviewed the charts of 103 consecutive patients with a well-documented long-term course of autoimmune hepatitis who had been carefully managed over a mean observation period of 95 months (12-405 months). Results Under immunosuppressive therapy 94 patients (91.2%) reached complete remission after a mean treatment duration of 3 +/- 3 months. 28 of the 103 patients (27.2%) were eligible for a trial of treatment withdrawal after a mean treatment duration of 32.2 months (ra…
Functional assessment of the quality of human hepatocyte preparations for cell transplantation.
2008
Hepatocyte transplantation is an alternative therapy to orthotopic liver transplantation for the treatment of liver diseases. Good quality freshly isolated or cryopreserved human hepatocytes are needed for clinical transplantation. However, isolation, cryopreservation, and thawing processes can seriously impair hepatocyte viability and functionality. The aim of the present study was to develop a fast and sensitive procedure to estimate the quality of hepatocyte preparations prior to clinical cell infusion. To this end, cell viability, attachment efficiency, and metabolic competence (urea synthesis and drug-metabolizing P450 activities) were selected as objective criteria. Viability of hepat…