The pediatric NAFLD fibrosis index: a predictor of liver fibrosis in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background  

Liver fibrosis is a stage of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which is responsible for liver-related morbidity and mortality in adults. Accordingly, the search for non-invasive markers of liver fibrosis has been the subject of intensive efforts in adults with NAFLD. Here, we developed a simple algorithm for the prediction of liver fibrosis in children with NAFLD followed at a tertiary care center.     

Expert opinion on current therapies for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

INTRODUCTION: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming one of most common liver diseases in industrialized countries owing to the increasing prevalence of obesity and being overweight. Until now, loss of weight and physical activity have represented the cornerstone of treatment, but they are very difficult to achieve and to maintain. Therefore, new treatments based on pathogenetic mechanisms leading to NAFLD are under evaluation to establish an effective pharmacological therapy for this disorder. AREAS COVERED: An overview of current therapeutic interventions to treat NAFLD is given. This review provides evidence of the efficacy of natural and pharmacological agents used so far in the treatment of both adult and pediatric NAFLD, on the basis of clinical trials published in the last 10 years. EXPERT OPINION: In the last 10 years, many pharmacological agents on the basis of the pathogenetic mechanism of NAFLD have been attempted, but so far guidelines for the management of NAFLD are lacking. We believe that the advance in the understanding of pathogenesis and factors involved in the progression of the disease may disclose the way to defining new, solid, therapeutic strategies. A multidisciplinary approach considering the risk factors and comorbidities of fatty liver will represent in the future a successful therapeutic strategy for NAFLD.     

Daytime vigilance and quality of life in epileptic patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to determine if vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has any effect on daytime vigilance and perceived sense of well-being. METHODS: Multiple Sleep Latency Tests (MSLTs) were performed and visual reaction times (VRTs) obtained in eight epileptic patients before and during treatment with VNS. Prior to VNS initiation patients' baseline MSLT and VRT scores were recorded. Six months after VNS was initiated, treatment MSLT and VRT scores were obtained. A group of 12 age-matched healthy subjects served as controls. In addition, there was a global evaluation of well-being at baseline and during a follow-up of 6 months. RESULTS: As expected, patients evaluated both at baseline and during VNS showed more sleepiness than controls. In this group, baseline sleep latencies on the MSLT were significantly shorter, while VRT latencies were significantly longer than those of controls. After 6 months of VNS, MSLT scores in the eight patients did not change significantly with respect to baseline. However, if the single patient treated with relatively high stimulus intensities (1.75 mA) was excluded from the group and only the seven patients treated with low stimulus intensities (相似文献   

The singer, not the song

Recently, data have been published on the possible damage to the healthy ovarian tissue determined by surgery for the excision of endometriomas. We believe that, besides endometriosis in itself, the overall quality of surgery may have a major role in determining damage to the ovary. In recent years, surgeons dedicated to the treatment of endometriosis have refined the technique of laparoscopic surgery for the excision of endometriomas, with particular attention in developing the correct plane of cleavage and in the judicious use of electrosurgery. Quality of the surgery, and not surgery per se, may be important. Surgery is the gold standard treatment for ovarian endometriomas, but it should be performed with proper techniques by specifically trained surgeons. It's the singer, not the song.     

Sedation of neurologically impaired children undergoing MRI: a sequential approach

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the efficacy of a sequential approach meant to rescue failed chloral hydrate sedation and to obtain a low rate of adverse events along with predictable timings in neurologically impaired children undergoing magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 1104 chloral hydrate sedations performed between 2002 and 2004 on 862 children weighing <26 kg. If the desired sedation score (3 on the Skeie Scale) was not reached within 30 min after oral administration of chloral hydrate, sedation was considered as potentially failed, and supplementation with sevoflurane, i.m. or i.v. ketamine, and i.v. pentobarbital and midazolam was started. RESULTS: Twenty-seven sessions failed because of excessive movement. Mean induction time was significantly higher for patients who received supplementation (52.2 min vs 39.1 min), while no differences in recovery and total sedation times were found. Supplementation significantly increased the incidence of respiratory obstruction (4.6% vs 2.4%), although the incidence of other adverse events was unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: Administering up to 1.5 g of chloral hydrate without supplementation was associated with a failure rate of approximately 20%, but the proposed sequential approach enabled us to rescue the majority of failed sedations while maintaining an acceptably low incidence of adverse events.     

Morphological features of choroidal metastases: An OCT analysis

The morphological characteristics and retinal changes of chroidal metastases using Spectral Domain OCT are described in a case with primary lung adenocarcinoma and secondary choroidal involvement.     

Imagined actions in multiple sclerosis patients: evidence of decline in motor cognitive prediction

Motor imagery is a mental process during which subjects internally simulate a movement without any motor output. Mental and actual movement durations are similar in healthy adults (isochrony) while temporal discrepancies (anisochrony) could be an expression of neurological deficits on action representation. It is unclear whether patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) preserve the capacity to simulate their own movements. This study investigates the ability of PwMS to predict their own actions by comparing temporal features of dominant and non-dominant actual and mental actions. Fourteen PwMS and nineteen healthy subjects (HS) were asked to execute and to imagine pointing arm movements among four pairs of targets of different sizes. Task duration was calculated for both actual and mental movements by an optoelectronic device. Results showed temporal consistency and target-by-target size modulation in actual movements through the four cycles for both groups with significantly longer actual and mental movement durations in PwMS with respect to HS. An index of performance (IP) was used to examine actual/mental isochrony properties in the two groups. Statistical analysis on IP showed in PwMS significantly longer actual movement durations with respect to mental movement durations (anisochrony), more relevant for the non-dominant than dominant arm. Mental prediction of motor actions is not well preserved in MS where motor and cognitive functional changes are present. Differences in performing imagined task with dominant and non-dominant arm could be related to increased cognitive effort required for performing non-dominant movements.     

Prevalence and prognostic significance of the presence of esophageal varices in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: It has been suggested that clinically relevant portal hypertension may affect the therapeutic management and prognosis of cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nevertheless, the importance of the presence of esophageal varices in these patients has not yet been addressed formally. In this study our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic relevance of the presence of esophageal varices in a large series of patients with HCC. METHODS: The prevalence of esophageal varices was evaluated in 1153 HCC patients who were consecutively referred to 10 Italian centers (the Italian Liver Cancer group). Survival was calculated from the time of HCC diagnosis until death or until the most recent follow-up visit, and was evaluated according to the presence or absence of esophageal varices. The independent prognostic meaning of the presence of esophageal varices was evaluated further in a multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: Esophageal varices were found in 730 patients (63.3%). Patients with varices showed significantly shorter survival times (P < .0001) as compared with patients without varices. Death as a result of bleeding was more common in patients with varices (P = .0127). In multivariate analysis, the presence of esophageal varices was associated independently with poorer survival (adjusted relative risk, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.48; P = .0095). CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the patients with HCC have esophageal varices. The presence of esophageal varices is associated with a higher risk of death from bleeding, and is an independent determinant of the patient's prognosis. This variable should be taken into account in the diagnostic and therapeutic work-up of HCC patients.