Budd-Chiari syndrome Martens, Pieter; Nevens, Frederik
United European Gastroenterology Journal,
December 2015, Letnik:
3, Številka:
6
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare and potentially life-threatening disorder characterized by obstruction of the hepatic outflow tract at any level between the junction of the inferior vena cava ...with the right atrium and the small hepatic veins. In the West, BCS is a rare hepatic manifestation of one or more underlying prothrombotic risk factors. The most common underlying prothrombotic risk factor is a myeloproliferative disorder, although it is now recognized that almost half of patients have multiple underlying prothrombotic risk factors. Clinical manifestations can be diverse, making BCS a possible differential diagnosis of many acute and chronic liver diseases. The index of suspicion should be very low if there is a known underlying prothrombotic risk factor and new onset of liver disease. Doppler ultrasound is sufficient for confirming the diagnosis, although tomographic imaging (computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) is often necessary for further treatment and discussion with a multidisciplinary team. Anticoagulation is the cornerstone of the treatment. Despite the use of anticoagulation, the majority of patients need additional (more invasive) treatment strategies. Algorithms consisting of local angioplasty, TIPS and liver transplantation have been proposed, with treatment choice dictated by a lack of response to a less-invasive treatment regimen. The application of these treatment strategies allows for a five-year survival rate of 90%. In the long term the disease course of BCS can sometimes be complicated by recurrence, progression of the underlying myeloproliferative disorder, or development of post-transplant lymphoma in transplant patients.
The advent of enhanced radiological imaging techniques has facilitated the diagnosis of cystic liver lesions. Concomitantly, the evidence base supporting the management of these diseases has matured ...over the last decades. As a result, comprehensive clinical guidance on the subject matter is warranted. These Clinical Practice Guidelines cover the diagnosis and management of hepatic cysts, mucinous cystic neoplasms of the liver, biliary hamartomas, polycystic liver disease, Caroli disease, Caroli syndrome, biliary hamartomas and peribiliary cysts. On the basis of in-depth review of the relevant literature we provide recommendations to navigate clinical dilemmas followed by supporting text. The recommendations are graded according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine system and categorised as ‘weak’ or ‘strong’. We aim to provide the best available evidence to aid the clinical decision-making process in the management of patients with cystic liver disease.
Telaprevir for Retreatment of HCV Infection Zeuzem, Stefan; Andreone, Pietro; Pol, Stanislas ...
The New England journal of medicine,
06/2011, Letnik:
364, Številka:
25
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In patients with HCV infection who did not have a sustained response to peginterferon plus ribavirin, the addition of telaprevir to this combination therapy was more effective than combination ...therapy alone. Adverse events with telaprevir included rash and anemia.
Approximately 60% of patients who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 are not cured by 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa combined with ribavirin.
1
Such patients fall into one of three categories: those who have no response to therapy, which is defined as a reduction of less than 2 log
10
in HCV RNA levels after 12 weeks of therapy
2
; those who have a partial response, which is defined as a reduction of at least 2 log
10
in a patient who has always had detectable serum HCV RNA during therapy; and those who have a relapse, . . .
The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear bile acid receptor involved in bile acid homeostasis, hepatic and intestinal inflammation, liver fibrosis, and cardiovascular disease. We studied the ...effect of short‐term treatment with obeticholic acid (INT‐747), a potent selective FXR agonist, on intrahepatic hemodynamic dysfunction and signaling pathways in different rat models of cirrhotic portal hypertension (PHT). For this, thioacetamide (TAA)‐intoxicated and bile‐duct–ligated (BDL) rats were used as models. After gavage of two doses of 30 mg/kg of INT‐747 or vehicle within 24 hours, in vivo hemodynamics were assessed. Additionally, we evaluated the direct effect of INT‐747 on total intrahepatic vascular resistance (IHVR) and intrahepatic vascular tone (endothelial dysfunction and hyperresponsiveness to methoxamine) by means of an in situ liver perfusion system and on hepatic stellate cell contraction in vitro. FXR expression and involved intrahepatic vasoactive pathways (e.g., endothelial nitric oxide synthase eNOS, Rho‐kinase, and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase DDAH) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, or western blotting. In both cirrhotic models, FXR expression was decreased. Treatment with INT‐747 in TAA and BDL reactivated the FXR downstream signaling pathway and decreased portal pressure by lowering total IHVR without deleterious systemic hypotension. In the perfused TAA and BDL cirrhotic liver, INT‐747 improved endothelial vasorelaxation capacity, but not hyperresponsiveness. In both groups, this was associated with an increased eNOS activity, which, in TAA, related to down‐regulation of Rho‐kinase and in BDL to up‐regulation of DDAH‐2. Conclusion: FXR agonist INT‐747 improves PHT in two different rat models of cirrhosis by decreasing IHVR. This hemodynamic effect relates to increased intrahepatic eNOS activity by pathways that differ depending on the etiology of cirrhosis. (Hepatology 2014;59:2286–2298)
Bacterial translocation (BTL) drives pathogenesis and complications of cirrhosis. Farnesoid X-activated receptor (FXR) is a key transcription regulator in hepatic and intestinal bile metabolism. We ...studied potential intestinal FXR dysfunction in a rat model of cholestatic liver injury and evaluated effects of obeticholic acid (INT-747), an FXR agonist, on gut permeability, inflammation, and BTL. Rats were gavaged with INT-747 or vehicle during 10 days after bile-duct ligation and then were assessed for changes in gut permeability, BTL, and tight-junction protein expression, immune cell recruitment, and cytokine expression in ileum, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleen. Auxiliary in vitro BTL-mimicking experiments were performed with Transwell supports. Vehicle-treated bile duct–ligated rats exhibited decreased FXR pathway expression in both jejunum and ileum, in association with increased gut permeability through increased claudin-2 expression and related to local and systemic recruitment of natural killer cells resulting in increased interferon-γ expression and BTL. After INT-747 treatment, natural killer cells and interferon-γ expression markedly decreased, in association with normalized permeability selectively in ileum (up-regulated claudin-1 and occludin) and a significant reduction in BTL. In vitro , interferon-γ induced increased Escherichia coli translocation, which remained unaffected by INT-747. In experimental cholestasis, FXR agonism improved ileal barrier function by attenuating intestinal inflammation, leading to reduced BTL and thus demonstrating a crucial protective role for FXR in the gut–liver axis.
The definition of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) remains contested. In Europe and North America, the term is generally applied according to the European Association for the Study of the ...Liver-Chronic Liver Failure (EASL-CLIF) Consortium guidelines, which defines this condition as a syndrome that develops in patients with cirrhosis and is characterized by acute decompensation, organ failure and high short-term mortality. One-third of patients who are hospitalized for acute decompensation present with ACLF at admission or develop the syndrome during hospitalization. ACLF frequently occurs in a closed temporal relationship to a precipitating event, such as bacterial infection or acute alcoholic, drug-induced or viral hepatitis. However, no precipitating event can be identified in approximately 40% of patients. The mechanisms of ACLF involve systemic inflammation due to infections, acute liver damage and, in cases without precipitating events, probably intestinal translocation of bacteria or bacterial products. ACLF is graded into three stages (ACLF grades 1-3) on the basis of the number of organ failures, with higher grades associated with increased mortality. Liver and renal failures are the most common organ failures, followed by coagulation, brain, circulatory and respiratory failure. The 28-day mortality rate associated with ACLF is 30%. Depending on the grade, ACLF can be reversed using standard therapy in only 16-51% of patients, leaving a considerable proportion of patients with ACLF that remains steady or progresses. Liver transplantation in selected patients with ACLF grade 2 and ACLF grade 3 increases the 6-month survival from 10% to 80%.
Hepatic inflammation drives hepatic stellate cells (HSC), resulting in liver fibrosis. The Farnesoid-X receptor (FXR) antagonizes inflammation through NF-κB inhibition. We investigated preventive and ...therapeutic effects of FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) on hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in toxic cirrhotic rats. Cirrhosis was induced by thioacetamide (TAA) intoxication. OCA was given during or after intoxication with vehicle-treated rats as controls. At sacrifice, fibrosis, hemodynamic and biochemical parameters were assessed. HSC activation, cell turn-over, hepatic NF-κB activation, pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines were determined. The effect of OCA was further evaluated in isolated HSC, Kupffer cells, hepatocytes and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC). OCA decreased hepatic inflammation and fibrogenesis during TAA-administration and reversed fibrosis in established cirrhosis. Portal pressure decreased through reduced intrahepatic vascular resistance. This was paralleled by decreased expression of pro-fibrotic cytokines (transforming growth-factor β, connective tissue growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor β-receptor) as well as markers of hepatic cell turn-over, by blunting effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1). In vitro, OCA inhibited both LSEC and Kupffer cell activation; while HSC remained unaffected. This related to NF-κB inhibition via up-regulated IκBα. In conclusion, OCA inhibits hepatic inflammation in toxic cirrhotic rats resulting in decreased HSC activation and fibrosis.
Cholangiocellular carcinoma (CC) originates from topographically heterogeneous cholangiocytes. The cylindrical mucin‐producing cholangiocytes are located in large bile ducts and the cuboidal ...non–mucin‐producing cholangiocytes are located in ductules containing bipotential hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs). We investigated the clinicopathological and molecular features of 85 resected CCs (14 hilar CCs so‐called Klatskin tumor, 71 intrahepatic CCs ICCs including 20 cholangiolocellular carcinomas CLCs, which are thought to originate from HPCs) and compared these with the different cholangiocyte phenotypes, including HPCs. Immunohistochemistry was performed with biliary/HPC and hepatocytic markers. Gene expression profiling was performed in different tumors and compared with nonneoplastic different cholangiocyte phenotypes obtained by laser microdissection. Invasion and cell proliferation assay were assessed using different types of CC cell lines: KMC‐1, KMCH‐1, and KMCH‐2. Among 51 ICCs, 31 (60.8%) contained only mucin‐producing CC features (muc‐ICCs), whereas 39.2% displayed histological diversity: focal hepatocytic differentiation and ductular areas (mixed‐ICCs). Clinicopathologically, muc‐ICCs and hilar CCs showed a predominantly (peri‐)hilar location, smaller tumor size, and more lymphatic and perineural invasion compared with mixed‐ICCs and CLCs (predominantly peripheral location, larger tumor size, and less lymphatic and perineural invasion). Immunoreactivity was similar in muc‐ICCs and hilar CCs and in mixed‐ICCs and CLCs. S100P and MUC1 were significantly up‐regulated in hilar CCs and muc‐ICCs compared with mixed‐ICCs and CLCs, whereas NCAM1 and ALB tended to be up‐regulated in mixed‐ICCs and CLCs compared with other tumors. KMC‐1 showed significantly higher invasiveness than KMCH‐1 and KMCH‐2. Conclusion: Muc‐ICCs had a clinicopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular profile similar to that of hilar CCs (from mucin‐producing cholangiocytes), whereas mixed‐ICCs had a profile similar to that of CLCs (thought to be of HPC origin), possibly reflecting their respective cells of origin. (HEPATOLOGY 2012;55:1876–1888)
Background and study aim
Indeterminate biliary strictures and difficult bile duct stones remain clinically arduous and challenging situations. We aimed to evaluate the utility of the single-operator ...cholangioscopy (SOC)-system SpyGlass in both conditions in a single-center biliopancreatic interventional unit and in perspective of available aggregated literature.
Methods
Usefulness of SOC was assessed for the above-mentioned indications by means of the combination of successful procedural completion, clinical success and incidence of procedure-related adverse events in our own prospective cohort from 3/2010 to 7/2014 and all available literature till 6/2015.
Results
Our single-center cohort constituted of 84 patients undergoing SpyGlass either for indeterminate strictures (
n
= 45) or difficult stones (
n
= 39). In addition, a comprehensive literature review yielded 851 patients (from 15 series) for either stenosis (
n
= 646, 75.9 %) and difficult stones (
n
= 205, 24.1 %). In our series, overall procedural success amounted to 85.7 % (with 88.9 % for stenosis or 82.1 % for stones) compared to 90.7, 91.5 and 88.3 % in overall literature, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for
visual diagnosis
in our cohort added up to 83.3, 82.9 and 82.9 % compared to 90.8, 90.9 and 90.8 % in the pooled analysis. Respective figures for
SOC
-
directed biopsies
totaled 85.7, 100 and 95.7 % in our cohort and 72.4, 100 and 84 % overall. Overall procedure-related complications varied between 9.4 and 21.4 %.
Conclusions
The SOC-platform SpyGlass can be considered useful in the context of indeterminate biliary strictures and difficult-to-remove biliary stones. In both, SpyGlass-assisted intervention is associated with high procedural success and alters clinical outcome compared to conventional approaches with an acceptable safety profile.