Effect of acupuncture compared with placebo-acupuncture at P6 as additional antiemetic prophylaxis in high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation: a randomized controlled single-blind trial.

PURPOSE: The purpose is to investigate an additional antiemetic effect to ondansetron with needle acupuncture at P6 compared with nonskin-penetrating placebo acupuncture in patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Eighty patients who were admitted to hospital for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation were included into a randomized placebo-controlled single-blind trial. The patients were randomized to receive acupuncture (n = 41) or noninvasive placebo acupuncture (n = 39) at the acupuncture point P6 30 min before first application of high-dose chemotherapy and the day after. All patients received 8 mg ondansetron/day i.v. as basic antiemetic prophylaxis. The main outcome measure was the rate of patients who either had at least one episode of vomiting or required any additional antiemetic drugs on the first 2 days of chemotherapy. RESULTS: The main outcome measure showed no significant difference (P = 0.82): 61% failure in the acupuncture group and 64% in the placebo acupuncture group (95% confidence interval of 3% difference: -18.1 and 24.3%). Comparing nausea, episodes of vomiting or retching and number of additionally required antiemetic drugs did not provide any discrepancy with the main result. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that in combination with ondansetron i.v., invasive needle acupuncture at P6 compared with nonskin-penetrating placebo acupuncture has no additional effect for the prevention of acute nausea and vomiting in high-dose chemotherapy.     

Current therapy for hepatitis C

Introduction Pegylated interferon alfa in combination with ribavirin has been established as standard therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with sustained virologic response rates of 54–63%. The duration of therapy depends on the HCV genotype with currently 48 weeks for genotype 1 and 24 weeks for genotypes 2 and 3. Results and discussion The probability of sustained virologic response is very low (<1–2%) in genotype-1-infected patients without a 2-log decline of HCV RNA concentration after 12 weeks of therapy, and treatment can therefore be discontinued early. Conclusion Efficient treatment of the multiple side-effects of interferon-based antiviral therapy is essential in order to improve compliance, prevent dose reduction or early discontinuation and therefore enhance the probability of sustained response. Future developments of interferon-based therapy aim at the individualisation of the duration of therapy according to the kinetics of viral reduction. Furthermore, direct antiviral drugs, which are currently under investigation in phase I/II clinical trials, will fundamentally expand the treatment options of HCV infection in the next few years.     

Transient elastography (FibroScan) for the non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis: current status and perspectives

A precise staging of the degree of liver fibrosis is important for the estimation of prognosis, surveillance and treatment decision in patients with chronic liver diseases. At present, liver biopsy is still the reference standard for the assessment of liver fibrosis. However, it is an invasive method associated with patient discomfort and in rare cases with serious complications. In addition, the accuracy of liver biopsy is limited due to intra- and interobserver variability and sampling errors. Non-invasive markers and methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis have been intensively evaluated in many studies. The FibroScan (Echosens, France) uses the transient elastography principle for the measurement of liver stiffness. At present (January 2007), studies evaluating the FibroScan in a wide range of liver diseases have been published in 20 full papers and 76 abstracts. The present review gives an overview of the current literature. The best results are reported for the differentiation between cirrhosis and no cirrhosis. With the combination of FibroScan and non-invasive serum fibrosis markers, the accuracy for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis (Metavir F > or = 2) can be further improved. According to recent data the FibroScan can also be useful for the evaluation of treatment response in patients receiving antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C. In addition, several studies have shown, that the FibroScan can be applied to estimate the risk of complications associated with liver cirrhosis.     

The influence of aminotransferase levels on liver stiffness assessed by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography: A retrospective multicentre study

BackgroundAcoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography is a new method for non-invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis.AimTo evaluate the impact of elevated alanine aminotransferase levels on liver stiffness assessment by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography.MethodsA multicentre retrospective study including 1242 patients with chronic liver disease, who underwent liver biopsy and Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse. Transient Elastography was also performed in 512 patients.ResultsThe best Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse cut-off for predicting significant fibrosis was 1.29 m/s in cases with normal alanine aminotransferase levels and 1.44 m/s in patients with alanine aminotransferase levels > 5× the upper limit of normal. The best cut-off for predicting liver cirrhosis were 1.59 and 1.75 m/s, respectively.Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse cut-off for predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were relatively similar in patients with normal alanine aminotransferase and in those with alanine aminotransferase levels between 1.1 and 5× the upper limit of normal: 1.29 m/s vs. 1.36 m/s and 1.59 m/s vs. 1.57 m/s, respectively.For predicting cirrhosis, the Transient Elastography cut-offs were significantly higher in patients with alanine aminotransferase levels between 1.1 and 5× the upper limit of normal compared to those with normal alanine aminotransferase: 12.3 kPa vs. 9.1 kPa.ConclusionLiver stiffness values assessed by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse and Transient Elastography are influenced by high aminotransferase levels. Transient Elastography was also influenced by moderately elevated aminotransferase levels.     

Therapie der Hepatitis C

The standard treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is a combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Patients infected with HCV genotype 1 are treated for 48 weeks, and patients infected with HCV genotype 2 or 3 for 24 weeks. Using the HCV genotype together with a baseline viremia and the initial virologic response to therapy enables further individualization of treatment duration. Viramidine could become an alternative to ribavirin with a reduction of ribavirin induced anemia. Many new drugs are currently under investigation in preclinical and clinical studies. The first results of phase I/II studies with specific HCV protease and polymerase inhibitors are promising.     

Peroral cholangioscopy for diagnosis and therapy of biliary tract disease using an ultra-slim gastroscope

High-resolution video cholangioscopy is expected to improve diagnostic validity for diseases of the biliary tract. We report our experience in using an ultra-slim gastroscope for diagnosis and treatment of biliary tract disease. Cholangioscopy was attempted in 25 cases (22 patients) and succeeded in 22 cases (success rate 88%; 19 patients). Cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC) was diagnosed by cholangioscopy in five of 10 cases (histopathologically confirmed in four), or ruled out in five. Cholangioscopy was used to detect stones in mega-choledochus (n=3), to clarify the postoperative condition of the bile ducts (n=2), to diagnose bile duct varices (n=1), and to release a dislodged self-expanding metal stent (n=1), and others. Argon plasma coagulation was successfully completed in a patient with mucin-producing adenomatosis of the bile ducts. One case of non-fatal air embolism occurred before replacing air with CO2 insufflation. In summary, peroral cholangioscopy with an ultra-slim gastroscope is feasible and helpful in selected patients, improving diagnostic validity, and offering new therapeutic interventions. This technique should only be performed using CO2 insufflation.     

Intraductal endoscopic radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of hilar non-resectable malignant bile duct obstruction

AIM: To evaluate the safety and technical success of endoscopic radiofrequency ablation(RFA) for palliative treatment of malignant hilar bile duct obstruction. METHODS: In this study, a recently CE and FDA-approved endoscopic RFA catheter was first tested in an ex vivo pig liver model to study the effect of electrosurgical variables on the extent of the area of induced necrosis. Subsequently, a retrospective analysis was conducted of all patients treated with endoscopic RFA for malignant biliary obstruction at our center between February 2012 and April 2013. All patients received an additional plastic stent implantation into the biliary tree following RFA. RESULTS: In the pig model, ablation time of 60-90 seconds using the bipolar soft coagulation mode at 8-10 watts with an effect of 8 was found to be the most feasible setting. Twelve patients(5 females, 7 males; mean age, 70 years) underwent 19 endoscopic RFA(range, 1-5) sessions. Deployment of RFA was successful in all patients. Systemic chemotherapy was administered in four patients. We observed biliary bleeding 4-6 wk after the intervention in three cases and two of these patients died: in one patient, spontaneous hemobilia occurred, whereas bleeding started during stent extraction in the other. In the third patient, bleeding was stopped by insertion of a non-covered self-expanding metal stent. Another three patients developed cholangitis during follow-up. Seven patients died during follow-up and median survival was 6.4 mo(95%CI: 0.05-12.7) from the time of the first RFA. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic RFA is an easy to perform and technically highly successful procedure. However, hemobilia possibly associated with RFA occurred in three of our patients. Therefore, larger prospective studies are needed to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of this promising new method.