Chronic Viral Hepatitis Patients Research Articles

SAT-337 Serum levels of IgA inform on the transcriptomic architecture of the liver and predict hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic viral hepatitis patients

SAT-337 Serum levels of IgA inform on the transcriptomic architecture of the liver and predict hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic viral hepatitis patients

Evaluation of Dyslipidaemia in Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis in a Lower Socio-Economic Country

Patients having chronic viral hepatitis do have disturbances in their serum lipid profiles, still the monitoring of dyslipidemia is not a routine part of management in low socio economic countries. Objective: To investigate the status of lipid profile among patients with chronic hepatitis and compare them with non-infected individuals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Karachi, from 5th September 2022 to 31st May 2023. Patients with chronic hepatitis B and C, diagnosed within two years with a body mass index (BMI) of 25-29.9 kg/m2 were included. Their comparison was done with non-infected individuals of the same BMI. All patients were evaluated with different parameters of lipid profile along with haemoglobin, alanine aminotransferase, albumin and international normalized ratio. Results: Among 521 participants of the study, the grouping was almost equal. The age range was 12-75 years, with an increased number of females in each group. In comparing the different statuses of lipid profile, each parameter including cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, all were significantly much less in patients with chronic viral hepatitis as compared to controls with a p-value of 0.000 in all. Conclusions: It was concluded that Dyslipidaemia is not common among chronic viral hepatitis patients’ despite being overweight, particularly among patients with child’s class A.

“Ultrastructural changes of platelets in COVID-19 and chronic viral hepatitis patients “

ABSTRACT Platelet-viral interactions are evolving as a new concern. Coagulation disorder is a major consequence of the COVID-19 infection. In chronic hepatitis virus infections, defect in coagulation factors, thrombocytopenia and platelet function abnormalities are common. A SARS-CoV-2 infection on top of chronic viral hepatitis infection can be common in areas where viral hepatitis is endemic. Here, we investigate the platelet ultrastructural changes and estimate the serum platelet factor-4 (PF-4), ferritin, CRP, and D-dimer in COVID-19 patients (n = 60), COVID-19 patients with associated chronic viral hepatitis (n = 20), and healthy subjects (n = 20). Ultrastructural changes were demonstrated in all test groups, denoting platelet activation. In chronic viral hepatitis patients, Platelet ultrastrustural apoptotic changes were also seen. Significantly high levels of PF-4 were confirmed in moderate and severe COVID-19 patients (P.value <0.001), with a cut off value of 17 ng/ml for predicting disease severity. A positive correlation of PF-4 with the level of serum ferritin, CRP, and D-dimer (p value < 0.001) was noted, while negatively correlated with platelet count and platelet granule count (p value < 0.001). In our study, chronic viral hepatitis patients presented mild COVID-19 signs, and their PF-4 level was comparable with the subgroup of mild COVID-19 infection. The platelet’s critical role in COVID-19 coagulopathy and chronic viral hepatitis is evidenced by the ultrastructural changes and the high levels of PF4. Moreover, a dual viral infection poses a substantial burden on the platelets, necessitating close monitoring of the patient’s coagulation profile.

Viscoelastic parameters derived from multifrequency MR elastography for depicting hepatic fibrosis and inflammation in chronic viral hepatitis

ObjectivesThe capability of MR elastography (MRE) to differentiate fibrosis and inflammation, and to provide precise diagnoses is crucial, whereas the coexistence of fibrosis and inflammation may obscure the diagnostic accuracy.MethodsIn this retrospective study, from June 2020 to December 2022, chronic viral hepatitis patients who underwent multifrequency MRE (mMRE) were included in, and further divided into, training and validation cohorts. The hepatic viscoelastic parameters [shear wave speed (c) and loss angle (φ) of the complex shear modulus] were obtained from mMRE. The logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate performance of viscoelastic parameters for fibrosis and inflammation.ResultsA total of 233 patients were assigned to training cohort and validation cohorts (mean age, 52 years ± 13 (SD); 51 women; training cohort, n = 170 (73%), and validation cohort, n = 63 (27%)). Liver c exhibited superior performance in detecting fibrosis with ROC (95% confidence interval) of ≥ S1 (0.96 (0.92–0.99)), ≥ S2 (0.86 (0.78–0.92)), ≥ S3 (0.89 (0.84–0.95)), and S4 (0.88 (0.83–0.93)). Similarly, φ was effective in diagnosing inflammation with ROC values of ≥ G2 (0.72 (0.63–0.81)), ≥ G3 (0.88 (0.83–0.94)), and G4 (0.92 (0.87–0.98)). And great predictive discrimination for fibrosis and inflammation were shown in validation cohort (all AUCs > 0.75).ConclusionThe viscoelastic parameters derived from multifrequency MRE could realize simultaneous detection of hepatic fibrosis and inflammation.Critical relevance statementFibrosis and inflammation coexist in chronic liver disease which obscures the diagnostic performance of MR elastography, whereas the viscoelastic parameters derived from multifrequency MR elastography could realize simultaneous detection of hepatic fibrosis and inflammation.Key points• Hepatic biomechanical parameters derived from multifrequency MR elastography could effectively detect fibrosis and inflammation.• Liver stiffness is useful for detecting fibrosis independent of inflammatory activity.• Fibrosis could affect the diagnostic efficacy of liver viscosity in inflammation, especially in early-grade of inflammation.Graphical

Autoantibodies profile in autoimmune liver diseases and chronic viral hepatitis

liver failure. Autoantibodies are confirmed to have significance in the early screening of AILD patients, especially in those who are asymptomatic before onset of clinical signs. This study aimed to assess levels of liver autoantibodies and their association with clinical manifestations of autoimmune liver diseases and chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) patients. This case-control study included 50 patients (case group of 25 patients with AILD and control group of 25 patients with CVH). They were investigated for presence of antibodies against LKM-1, AMA-M2, PML, M2-3E (BPO), gp210, Sp100, LC-1, Ro52 and SLA/LP using the line immune blot technique, and for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), as non-organ specific autoantibodies, using indirect immunofluorescence technique. Specific autoantibodies were detected in all AILD cases and some of their levels were significantly higher when compared with CVH group. Among AILD patients, 52% were positive for ANA, whereas 61.1% of chronic hepatitis C and 28.6% of chronic hepatitis B patients were positive for ANA with no significant difference (p=0.3). In conclusion, early diagnosis of autoimmune liver diseases has been linked to assessment of autoantibodies, allowing for prompt therapeutic intervention to stop the progression of liver cirrhosis and the accompanying complications.

Well-controlled viremia reduces the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic viral hepatitis patients treated with lenvatinib.

Lenvatinib has been approved as one of the first-line treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its high treatment efficacy being non-inferior to sorafenib. Previous studies have shown well-controlled viremia contributes to the prognosis of HCC patients receiving first-line sorafenib; hence, we postulated this association might also exist in HCC patients with lenvatinib treatment. From April 2018 to December 2021, 201 unresectable HCC patients with first-line lenvatinib treatment in our institute were assessed. High-effect nucleoside analogues were administered for hepatitis B virus (HBV) control, while direct-acting antivirals were used for hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. Based on our previous study, well-controlled viremia was defined as patients who had undetectable viremia, or who had been receiving antivirals at least 6 months before lenvatinib. This study enrolled 129 patients, including 85 patients with HBV-related HCC (HBV-HCC) and 44 patients with HCV-related HCC (HCV-HCC), respectively. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates between the two groups were not different. Before administration of lenvatinib, 57.1% of the HBV-HCC patients and 88.4% of the HCV-HCC patients had well-controlled viremia, and their PFS (8.8 vs. 3.1 months, p < 0.001) and OS (30.2 vs. 12.8 months, p = 0.041) were better than those who had uncontrolled viremia; moreover, well-controlled viremia reduced tumor progression in multivariate analysis (Hazard ratio: 0.41, 95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.68, p = 0.001) after adjusting for albumin-bilirubin grade and concurrent treatment. HBV or HCV infection was not associated with tumor progression of HCC patients receiving lenvatinib, but viremia, controlled or not, was.

Diabetic MAFLD is associated with increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and mortality in chronic viral hepatitis patients.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) can coexist with chronic viral hepatitis. MAFLD is a heterogeneous disease because the diagnostic criteria include various metabolic traits. We aimed to identify patients at high risk of poor long-term outcomes based on MAFLD subgroups in chronic viral hepatitis patients. We evaluated 63 273 chronic hepatitis B and C patients. Patient with a fatty liver index ≥30 was defined to have hepatic steatosis. MAFLD was defined as the presence of hepatic steatosis with any one of the following three conditions, overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes or ≥2 metabolic risk factors. The prevalence of MAFLD was 38.4% (n = 24 290). During a median 8.8-year follow-up, 1839 HCCs and 2258 deaths were documented in MAFLD patients. Among MAFLD patients, diabetes could identify patients at high risk of HCC and mortality, whereas overweight/obesity and metabolic risk factors did not. Compared with non-MAFLD patients, risk of HCC and mortality was significantly higher in diabetic MAFLD patients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26-1.43 for HCC; aHR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.08-1.22 for mortality). Risk of HCC and mortality was significantly higher in diabetic MAFLD patients (aHR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.26-1.55 for HCC; aHR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.63-1.93 for mortality) compared with non-diabetic MAFLD patients. Diabetic MAFLD is associated with increased risk of HCC and mortality among chronic viral hepatitis patients. Our findings highlight the need for close surveillance and effective treatment for these high-risk patients to reduce HCC and mortality in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

Assessing Liver Fibrosis Using 2D-SWE Liver Ultrasound Elastography and Dynamic Liver Scintigraphy with 99mTc-mebrofenin: A Comparative Prospective Single-Center Study.

Background and Objectives: Many quantitative imaging modalities are available that quantify chronic liver disease, although only a few of them are included in clinical guidelines. Many more imaging options are still competing to find their place in the area of diagnosing chronic liver disease. We report our first prospective single-center study evaluating different imaging modalities that stratify viral hepatitis-associated liver fibrosis in a treatment-naïve patient group. Materials and Methods: The aim of our study is to compare and to combine already employed 2D shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) with dynamic liver scintigraphy with 99mTc-mebrofenin in chronic viral hepatitis patients for the staging of liver fibrosis. Results: Seventy-two patients were enrolled in the study. We found that both 2D-SWE ultrasound imaging, with dynamic liver scintigraphy with 99mTc-mebrofenin are able to stratify CLD patients into different liver fibrosis categories based on histological examination findings. We did not find any statistically significant difference between these imaging options, which means that dynamic liver scintigraphy with 99mTc-mebrofenin is not an inferior imaging technique. A combination of these imaging modalities showed increased accuracy in the non-invasive staging of liver cirrhosis. Conclusions: Our study presents that 2D-SWE and dynamic liver scintigraphy with 99mTc-mebrofenin could be used for staging liver fibrosis, both in singular application and in a combined way, adding a potential supplementary value that represents different aspects of liver fibrosis in CLD.

Вирусные циррозы печени: клинический профиль современного пациента, танатогенез и патоморфология

Objective. To analyze the profile of a patient with virus-related liver cirrhosis examined at different levels of healthcare, to identify the main causes of death, and describe morphological changes in liver tissue. Patients and methods. This study included 921 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) treated in day hospitals, 844 patients treated in inpatient facilities, and 455 CVH patients who died. We analyzed autopsy results of 97 patients with clinical signs of liver cirrhosis and described morphological characteristics of liver tissue depending on the Child–Turcotte–Pugh score. Results. Chronic hepatitis C is the most prevalent form of hepatitis in both inpatient and outpatient units. The highest incidence of latent hepatitis B was observed among inpatients. The majority of outpatients with virus-related liver cirrhosis were employable (or employed), socially adapted, not addicted to alcohol, and had compensated disease (class A in 97%) with minimal clinical manifestations, and were motivated for treatment and examination. The mean age of inpatients was 50 years; 100% of them had some comorbidities; 90% of them had subcompensated or decompensated cirrhosis; 60% of them systematically abused alcohol. Conclusion. The majority of deceased patients were employable, abused alcohol, and were not systematically followed-up by a specialist. Almost one-third of them (30%) had subcompensated disease and incomplete cirrhotic transformation of hepatic tissue; they died due to other reasons. This affects the course of chronic virus-related hepatitis and comorbidities and necessitates the creation of integrated comprehensive models of healthcare. Key words: virus-related liver cirrhosis, comorbidity, morphological examination, latent hepatitis, chronic viral hepatitis

Assessment of Some Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in a Sample of Patients with Viral Hepatitis in Baghdad

The liver is a vital metabolic organ that performs a variety of complex biochemical functions such as metabolism, detoxification, and excretion. Impairment of liver functions disrupts trace element metabolism, causing oxidative stress, which subsequently leads to liver inflammation and fibrosis. This study aims to evaluate zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) levels in chronic viral hepatitis (HBV or HCV) patients in Baghdad. One hundred fifty samples of blood were collected from fifty patients with hepatitis B, fifty patients with hepatitis C, and fifty individuals without viral hepatitis as controls at the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Teaching Hospital in Baghdad during the period from November 2021 to March 2022. Patients with viral hepatitis had highly significant elevated levels of lead, cadmium, and copper compared with the controls (P-value = 0.000), whereas zinc and iron levels were highly significantly lower in the patient groups than in the control group (P-value = 0.000). In conclusion, viral hepatitis patients showed varying levels of zinc, copper, iron, cadmium, and lead compared to healthy controls.

Diagnostic Performance of Transient Elastography Versus Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography for Liver Fibrosis in Chronic Viral Hepatitis: Direct Comparison and a Meta-Analysis.

Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of transient elastography (TE) and two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) for staging liver fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH). Methods Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched (-01/08/2021) for studies comparing TE with 2D-SWE in patients with CVH. Other etiologies of chronic liver disease (CLD) and articles not published in SCI journals were excluded. The bivariate random-effects model was used to pool the performance of the TE and 2D-SWE. Results Eight articles with a total of 1301 CVH patients were included. The prevalence of significant fibrosis (fibrosis stage ≥ 2), advanced fibrosis (fibrosis stage ≥ 3), and cirrhosis was 50.8%, 44.8%, and 34.7%, respectively. 2D-SWE expressed higher overall accuracy than TE in detecting significant fibrosis (0.93 vs. 0.85, P = 0.04). No significant difference among the overall diagnostic accuracy of TE and 2D-SWE in staging advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis was found. Conclusion TE and 2D-SWE express good to excellent diagnostic accuracies to stage fibrosis in CVH patients. 2D-SWE compares favorably with TE especially for predicting significant fibrosis.

Well-Controlled Viremia Predicts the Outcome of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chronic Viral Hepatitis Patients Treated with Sorafenib.

Simple SummaryPrevious studies reported hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC) patients might have better prognosis than hepatitis B virus-related HCC (HBV-HCC) patients at using sorafenib. However, the information about status of viremia was limited in these studies. We defined well-controlled viremia as patients who had undetectable viremia, or who had been receiving antivirals at least six months before sorafenib. We reported 116 (65.2%) HBV-HCC patients and 62 (34.8%) HCV-HCC patients who received sorafenib, and progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) rates between these two groups were not different. Before sorafenib, 56% of HBV-HCC patients and 54.8% of HCV-HCC patients had well-controlled viremia and their OS was superior to those who had uncontrolled viremia (15.5 vs. 11.1 months, p = 0.001). Besides, well-controlled viremia was associated with mortality in multivariate analysis (Hazard ratio: 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.42–0.93, p = 0.022). The significance of our study is the first research to confirm the prognostic value of well-controlled viremia between HBV-HCC and HCV-HCC patients receiving sorafenib. Besides, HBV or HCV infection was not associated with the outcome, neither in univariate nor in multivariate analysis.Without analyzing the status of viremia, hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC) patients are proposed to have better prognosis than hepatitis B virus-related HCC (HBV-HCC) patients using sorafenib. We aimed to elucidate the efficacy of concurrent sorafenib and anti-viral treatment for HCC patients with HBV or HCV infection in real world. Between January 2018 and January 2021, 256 unresectable HCC patients receiving first-line sorafenib were evaluated. High-potency nucleoside analogs were used for HBV control, whereas direct-acting antivirals were administered for HCV eradication. Well-controlled viremia was defined as patients who had undetectable viremia, or who had been receiving antivirals at least 6 months before sorafenib. We recruited 116 (65.2%) HBV-HCC patients and 62 (34.8%) HCV-HCC patients. Using sorafenib, progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) rates between these two groups were not different. Before sorafenib, 56% of HBV-HCC patients and 54.8% of HCV-HCC patients had well-controlled viremia and their OS was superior to those who had uncontrolled viremia (15.5 vs. 11.1 months, p = 0.001). Dividing our patients into four subgroups as well-controlled HCV viremia, well-controlled HBV viremia, uncontrolled HCV viremia, and uncontrolled HBV viremia, their OS rates were distributed with a significantly decreasing trend as 21.9 months, 15.0 months, 14.2 months, and 5.7 months (p = 0.009). Furthermore, well-controlled viremia was associated with mortality in multivariate analysis (Hazard ratio: 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.42–0.93, p = 0.022). In real-life, HBV or HCV infection did not contribute to the prognosis of HCC patients receiving sorafenib; however, whether viremia was controlled or not did contribute.

ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ КОНТРАСТ-УСИЛЕННОГО УЛЬТРАЗВУКОВОГО ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ПРИ ДИФФУЗНЫХ ЗАБОЛЕВАНИЯХ ПЕЧЕНИ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ХРОНИЧЕСКИХ ВИРУСНЫХ ГЕПАТИТОВ)

Background. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a modern imaging modality providing with the possibility of real-time liver state assessment that is important in determining the degree of parenchymal damage in order to predict the course of the disease and to change the treatment strategy accordingly. Objective. To determine the diagnostic and prognostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of the liver in patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) B and C. Material and methods. 284 individuals were examined from 2018 to 2021. All the patients were divided into 3 groups. The experimental group included CVH patients who underwent CEUS examination; there were 2 control groups: № 1 – patients with CVH who did not undergo CEUS examination; the aim was to determine the predictive effectiveness of the method, № 2 - patients with CVH and without CEUS examination - to determine the diagnostic effectiveness of the method. Results. During the study, it was found out that the greatest changes in CEUS parameters were observed in patients with F4 fibrosis stage according to the METAVIR score. It was the assessment of qualitative parameters according to the proposed standardized program that had the highest prognostic and diagnostic potential. As far as the quantitative parameters of CEUS are concerned the values of the difference of quantitative parameters in the proximal and distal zones (ΔTOA, ΔTTP, ΔPI, ΔHTWo) were of considerable importance. Conclusions. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound makes it possible to detect signs of an unfavorable course of chronic viral hepatitis already at an early clinical stage, thus enabling to adjust the treatment strategy and improve long-term prognosis.

Non-hepatocellular carcinoma management: A SEER database analysis.

e16108 Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy, however, chronic viral hepatitis and cirrhosis place patients at an increased risk for non-HCC malignancies as well. A major treatment option for these tumors is local tumor destruction via a number of minimally invasive techniques available to interventional radiologists. This study assessed the prognostic impact of various liver-directed local tumor therapies in the management of non-HCC liver cancer. Methods: We searched the SEER-18 database for malignant liver cancers not coded as HCC (8170-8175) that were diagnosed between 2000-2018. Patients were excluded if the cause of death was not associated with their cancer according to SEER’s cancer-specific death categorization. The SEER database tracks survival up to 60 months. SPSS was used for all descriptive and univariate survival statistics. Results: A total of 228 patients were collected from this search. 59.6% of cases were from males and the average age was 64 years old (median = 65). 60.1% were in non-Hispanic White patients, followed by Hispanic (16.2%), non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (14.0%), and non-Hispanic Black (9.2%) patients. Of the 170 patients with staging coded, 62.9% were local, 24.7% were regional, and 12.4% were distant. 36.8% of patients received some form of chemotherapy, while only 3.1% received radiation. When grouped by age range (&lt; 49, 50-69, 70+), survival did not differ between groups. Sex also did not influence survival (p = .325). Patients that received chemotherapy had worse outcomes, likely due to worse staging which was negatively associated with survival (p &lt; .05). Radiation did not significantly improve survival. Of the local tumor destruction therapies, Heat-Radio-Frequency ablation (RFA) (n = 150) improved survival significantly in comparison to: local tumor destruction not otherwise specified (n = 42), photodynamic therapy (n = 1), electrocautery (n = 4), cryosurgery (n = 4), and ultrasound or acetic acid (n = 15) (all p &lt; 0.05). Laser surgery (n = 3) and intratumoral injection of alcohol (n = 9) had no significant outcome differences. RFA had an estimated mean survival time of 35.7 months while all other interventional radiology modalities combined had a mean estimated survival time of 21.4 months (p &lt; .000). Conclusions: Though limitations of a small sample size and univariate statistical analyses were present in this study, RFA likely has improved survival compared to other interventional radiology modalities used in the treatment of non-HCC liver cancer.

Trends, outcomes, and management of acute myocardial infarction in patients with chronic viral hepatitis

ABSTRACT Objectives There is a paucity of data on the management and outcomes of chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) patients [including chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC)] presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods We utilized the National Inpatient Sample database (2001–2019) and studied the management and outcomes of CVH patients with AMI and stratified them by subtypes of CVH. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of adverse outcomes in CVH groups were compared to no-CVH groups using multivariable logistic regression. Results Of 18,794,686 AMI admissions, 84,147 (0.45%) had a CVH diagnosis. CVH patients had increased odds of adverse outcomes including in-hospital mortality (aOR 1.40, 95%CI 1.31–1.49, p < 0.05), respiratory failure (1.11, 95%CI 1.04–1.17, p < 0.001), vascular complications (1.09, 95%CI 1.04–1.15, p < 0.001), acute kidney injury (1.36, 95%CI 1.30–1.42, p < 0.001), gastrointestinal bleeding (1.57, 95%CI 1.50–1.68, p < 0.001), cardiogenic shock (1.44, 95%CI 1.04–1.30, p < 0.001), sepsis (1.24, 95%CI 1.17–1.31, p < 0.001), and were less likely to undergo invasive management. On subgroup analysis, CHB had higher odds of adverse outcomes than the CHC group (p < 0.05). Conclusion CVH patients presenting with AMI are associated with worse clinical outcomes. CHB subgroup had worse outcomes compared to the CHC subgroup.

Correlation Between Serum Ferritin and Viral Hepatitis in Thalassemia Patients

Serum ferritin is an acute phase protein; importantly, its level is noticeably increased in response to iron overload and systemic inflammation. The iron overload status in thalassemia patients has been recognized as a potential way to measure liver iron concentration (LIC) levels using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chronic viral hepatitis on the level of serum ferritin in patients with thalassemia. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving chronic viral hepatitis infection. Mean serum ferritin and LIC levels were recorded. The LIC values were used to divide the patients into two groups; a higher LIC group (>5 mg Fe/g) and a lower LIC group (<5 mg Fe/g). Mean serum ferritin levels were then compared between the two LIC groups. We identified 32 thalassemia patients comprising of 13 chronic viral hepatitis patients, seven patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and six patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). With regard to the group with higher LIC values, the mean serum ferritin levels in the hepatitis group were significantly higher than for those in the non hepatitis group (1776 ± 488 vs. 967 ± 860 ng/mL, p = 0.03). Furthermore, the linear correlation between the mean serum ferritin levels and the viral load in the non transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) group were found to be significantly correlated (r = 0.7, p = 0.04). Chronic viral hepatitis was determined to be a possible casualty of disproportionately high ferritin levels in the NTDT group.

Grading of Liver Fibrosis using Shear Wave Elastography and Aminotransferase Platelet Ratio Index in Chronic Viral Hepatitis: A Case-control Study

Introduction: Liver fibrosis is a progressive disorder that if diagnosed early and staged precisely, allows early clinical intervention that may hinder or slow down the progression to end stage decompensated cirrhosis. Grading of hepatic fibrosis is important not only for diagnosis but also for prognostic evaluation, planning appropriate therapy, and follow-up of patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Liver biopsy has been considered the reference standard for grading liver fibrosis. As liver biopsy is invasive and associated with complications, non invasive serological and imaging techniques like Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) and Aminotransferase Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) have come to the spotlight. Aim: To evaluate SWE alone and together with APRI as a reliable alternative to liver biopsy for diagnosing and grading hepatic fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis. Materials and Methods: This case control study was conducted over a period of 18 months from October 2017 to March 2019, at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India. Total 120 subjects (60 cases of chronic viral hepatitis and 60 case matched healthy volunteers as controls) were enrolled in the study. Biopsy could not be performed in 10 cases so these cases and their matched controls were excluded from the statistical analysis. SWE was performed using a 1-5 MHz curvilinear transducer (Philips iU22x MATRIX). The APRI and the mean of six SWE measurements (in kilopascals) were calculated for all subjects. The analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Results: Among all 50 cases of chronic hepatitis who have underwent biopsy, the mean SWE values corresponding to the histopathological grade of fibrosis i.e., F0, F1, F2, F3 and F4 was found to be 4.48±1.05 kPa, 7.16±0.75 kPa, 8.08±1.05 kPa, 8.44±0.47 kPa and 16.01±3.78 kPa, respectively. The mean APRI values of the cases in F1, F2 and F3 grades showed significant overlap (cut off value between 0.5-1.5). Also, when APRI was used along with SWE, does not have a statistically significant contribution to improve its diagnostic accuracy in liver fibrosis grading. Conclusion: Shear wave elastography has high accuracy in detecting and grading of fibrosis. APRI does not appear to have a significant role in the grading of liver fibrosis however it can be combined with SWE for post-treatment follow-up of chronic viral hepatitis patients thus avoiding the need for repeated biopsy.

The role of serum bile acid profile in differentiation between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic viral hepatitis

BackgroundBile acids are essential organic molecules synthesized from cholesterol in the liver. They have been utilized as indicators of hepatobiliary impairment because synthesis of BAs and their metabolism are influenced by liver diseases. We aimed to investigate the role of serum bile acid level and composition in differentiation between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic viral hepatitis. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry assay was used to measure the serum level of 14 bile acids in chronic viral hepatitis and NAFLD patients beside normal healthy control subjects.ResultsThe mean serum levels of 11 out of the 14 bile acids (two primary, six conjugated, and three secondary) were significantly higher in viral hepatitis compared to control. Only 4 bile acids [2 primary, one glycine conjugated (GCDCA), and one secondary (LCA)] had statistically significant increase in their mean serum bile acid level in NAFLD compared to control. Comparing viral hepatitis group against NAFLD group revealed that the mean serum levels of five conjugated and one secondary bile acid (DCA) were significantly higher in viral hepatitis group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that LCA had the best diagnostic performance for viral hepatitis followed by TCA and GCDCA. ROC curve for the combined three parameters had better sensitivity and specificity (70.55% and 94.87% respectively).ConclusionBA compositions including primary, secondary, and conjugated ones could differentiate between chronic viral hepatitis and NAFLD patients, and they might be potential distinguishing biomarkers for this purpose.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Treatment, Follow-up and Behavioral Characteristics of Chronic Viral Hepatitis Patients

Objectives: It has been not yet fully understood whether chronic liver diseases may be considered as risk factors for critical course of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) Considering the importance of managing with COVID-19, we aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment, follow-up and behavioral characteristics of chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) patients Materials and Methods: Patients followed-up in our clinic with diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B or C were screened retrospectively and a total 213 adults included in the study We performed a telephone survey with patients Results: The mean age of participants was 49 9±13 4 years Of the participants, 62% were male Totally 75 (35 2%) patients disrupted their follow-up visits due to COVID-19 pandemic The only risk factor for disruption in follow-up was found as anxiety The vast majority of CVH patients paid attention to prevention measures for COVID-19 Conclusion: We can say that CVH patients' awareness about COVID-19 and application of control measures were well enough Continuity of treatment can be provided in patients with chronic illness during crisis period with informing patients in a way not to cause anxiety and efficient implementations in healthcare system

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with chronic viral hepatitis in Turkey

IntroductionThe global use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is growing. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of CAM use in patients in Turkey with CVH, the types of therapy, and patients’ sociodemographic characteristics. MethodsThe study was designed as a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional analysis. An infectious diseases outpatient follow-up questionnaire was administered to patients at face-to-face interviews. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 17 software. ResultsThis study included 588 patients, of whom 27% used CAM. No differences in sociodemographic characteristics were determined between patients using CAM and those not using it. Herbal methods were used by 63.6% of patients and cupping techniques by 25.4%. Education level was significantly correlated with herbal methods (p = 0.043). CAM use also increased in line with disease duration (p < 0.05). No difference in CAM use was determined between CHB patients using oral antiviral therapy and those not using it (p = 0.162). ConclusionCAM use, particularly herbal products, is prevalent among Turkish adults with CVH. In case of use of herbal products in chronic viral hepatitis patients, toxicity and liver failure may develop as a result of herbal product-drug interactions. Physicians in the field of hepatology should, therefore, be aware of potential toxicity of CAM, especially in patients with chronic hepatitis liver diseases.