To determine underlying conditions in patients undergoing both heart and liver biopsies.
Our study group consisted of 32 patients at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, who underwent both ...endomyocardial and nonsurgical liver biopsies and who underwent at least one of these procedures between January 1, 1981, and December 31, 2000. Patients were categorized as having (1) heart disease affecting the liver, (2) liver disease affecting the heart, (3) the same disease affecting both organs, or (4) different diseases affecting each organ independently.
Among 32 patients, cardiac dysfunction was present in 28 (19 systolic, 9 diastolic), and hepatic dysfunction was present in 31. In group 1, 3 of 4 patients had cardiac amyloidosis with secondary hepatic congestion. In group 2, all 3 patients had cirrhosis with cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. Group 3 included 5 patients with hemochromatosis, 3 with alcoholism, and 1 with amyloidosis. In group 4, 8 of 16 patients had idiopathic cardiomyopathy, and 8 had hepatitis. Overall, of 8 patients with hemochromatosis, 3 without cardiac iron had improved cardiac function after phlebotomy, and 1 with cardiac iron had no cardiac dysfunction. Among 7 patients with alcoholism, 3 had alcoholic liver and heart disease. Of 5 patients with cardiac amyloidosis, 1 had hepatic amyloid. Ten patients underwent transplantation (6 liver, 3 heart, and 1 heart and liver).
In one half of the patients in the study group, heart and liver diseases had independent causes. In patients with hemochromatosis, there was little correlation between cardiac iron and systolic dysfunction. In patients with chronic alcoholism, liver and heart disorders often had nonalcoholic causes. With cardiac amyloidosis, hepatic dysfunction was generally due to congestion. Specific disease in one organ did not necessarily imply similar involvement in the other. Thus, heart or liver biopsy may be useful in patients being evaluated for liver or heart transplantation, respectively.
To examine the natural history of acute alcoholic hepatitis (AH) and identify predictors of mortality for AH using data from a prospective multicenter observational study.
We analyzed data from 164 ...patients with AH and 131 heavy-drinking controls with no liver disease. Participants underwent clinical/laboratory assessment at baseline and 6 and 12 months after enrollment. Multivariable analyses were conducted to identify variables associated with mortality and examine the association between coffee drinking and risk of AH.
Thirty-six patients with AH died during follow-up, with estimated 30-day, 90-day, 180-day, and 1-year survival of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.87-0.96), 0.85 (95% CI, 0.80-0.91), 0.80 (95% CI, 0.74-0.87), and 0.75 (95% CI, 0.68-0.83), respectively. In the multivariable analysis, higher serum bilirubin level (hazard ratio HR=1.059; 95% CI, 1.022-1.089), lower hemoglobin level (HR=1.263; 95% CI, 1.012-1.575), and lower platelet count (HR=1.006; 95% CI, 1.001-1.012) were independently associated with mortality in AH. Compared with controls, fewer patients with AH regularly consumed coffee (20% vs 44%; P<.001), and this association between regular coffee drinking and lower risk of AH persisted after controlling for relevant covariates (odds ratio=0.26; 95% CI, 0.15-0.46). Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; Maddrey Discriminant Function; age, serum bilirubin, international normalized ratio, and serum creatinine; and Child-Pugh scores all provided similar discrimination performance at 30 days (area under the curve=0.73-0.77).
Alcoholic hepatitis remains highly fatal, with 1-year mortality of 25%. Regular coffee consumption was associated with lower risk of AH in heavy drinkers.
Management of ectopic varices Norton, Ian D.; Andrews, James C.; Kamath, Patrick S.
Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.),
October 1998, Letnik:
28, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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