Staging of portal hypertension and portosystemic shunts using dynamic nuclear medicine investigations

AIM： To explore portal hypertension and portosystemic shunts and to stage chronic liver disease （CLD） based on the pathophysiology of portal hemodynamics. METHODS： Per-rectal portal scintigraphy （PRPS） was performed on 312 patients with CLD and liver angioscintigraphy （LAS） on 231 of them. The control group included 25 healthy subjects. We developed a new model of PRPS interpretation by introducing two new parameters, the liver transit time （LTT） and the circu-lation time between right heart and liver （RHLT）. LTT for each lobe was used to evaluate the early portal hypertension. RHLT is useful in cirrhosis to detect liver areas missing portal inflow. We calculated the classical per-rectal portal shunt index （PRSI） at PRPS and the hepatic perfusion index （HPI） at LAS. RESULTS： The normal LTT value was 24 ± 1 s. Abnormal LTT had PPV = 100% for CLD. Twenty-seven noncirrhotic patients had LTT increased up to 35 s （median 27 s）. RHLT （42 ± 1 s） was not related to liver disease. Cirrhosis could be excluded in all patients with PRSI 〈 5% （P 〈 0.01）. PRSI 〉 30% had PPV = 100% for cirrhosis. Based on PRPS and LAS we propose the classification of CLD in 5 hemodynamic stages. Stage 0 is normal （LTT = 24 s, PRSI 〈 5%）. In stage 1, LTT is increased, while PRSI remains normal. In stage 2, LTT is decreased between 16 s and 23 s, whereas PRSI is increased between 5% and 10%. In stage 3, PRSI is increased to 10%-30%, and LTT becomes undetectable by PRPS due to the portosystemic shunts. Stage 4 includes the patients with PRSI 〉 30%. RHLT and HPI were used to subtype stage 4. In our study stage 0 had NPV = 100% for CLD, stage 1 had PPV = 100% for non-cirrhotic CLD, stages 2 and 3 represented the transition from chronic hepatitis to cirrhosis, stage 4 had PPV = 100% for cirrhosis. CONCLUSION： LTT allows the detection of early portal hypertension and of opening of transhepatic shunts. PRSI is useful in CLD with extrahepatic portosystemic shunts. Our hemodynamic model stag     

Then and now: The progress in hepatitis B treatment over the past 20 years

The ultimate goals of treating chronic hepatitis B(CHB)is prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and hepatic decompensation.Since the advent of effective antiviral drugs that appeared during the past two decades,considerable advances have been made not only in controlling hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection,but also in preventing and reducing the incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC.Furthermore,several recent studies have suggested the possibility of reducing the incidence of recurrent or new HCC in patients even after they have developed HCC.Currently,six medications are available for HBV treatment including,interferon and five nucleoside/nucleotide analogues.In this review,we will examine the antiviral drugs and the progresses that have been made with antiviral treatments in the field of CHB.     

α1-antitrypsin deficiency in fraternal twins born with familial spontaneous pneumothorax

We report a case of spontaneous familial pneumothorax in fraternal twin boys. The twins' family history is remarkable for reactive airway disease and a female sibling also born with spontaneous pneumothorax. The family had no history of connective tissue disorders, renal cancer, or dermatologic diseases. Analysis of the twins' α(1)-antitrypsin (AAT) genotype, phenotype, and serum concentration revealed that both were compound heterozygous for rare SERPINA1 alleles. These findings suggest a role for AAT deficiency in spontaneous pneumothorax of the newborn. To our knowledge, these are the first genetic data to support etiology of neonatal spontaneous familial pneumothorax.