ABSTRACT
Hepatitis B virus core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is a new serum biomarker for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and is composed of several antigens encoded by the pre-C/C region gene of HBV, including HBcAg, HBeAg, and P22cr precursor protein. There is a poor correlation between HBcrAg and HBsAg and they cannot replace each other. Serum HBcrAg level can reflect the content and transcriptional activity of cccDNA in hepatocytes of patients with chronic hepatitis B, as well as the transcriptional activity of integrated HBV DNA. In addition, HBcrAg can be used to evaluate the antiviral effect of nucleos(t)ide analogues and pegylated interferon- and predict recurrence risk after withdrawal of nucleos(t)ide analogues and the development risk and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgery. Therefore, serum HBcrAg is a promising new serum marker for HBV.
ABSTRACT
Liver pathological examination plays an important role in guiding clinical treatment and evaluating disease prognosis, especially in the diagnosis of difficult liver diseases. The application of liver biopsy and proper pathological techniques helps pathologists to observe the morphological changes of the liver and thus provides a reference for disease diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and clarification of etiology. This article introduces the commonly used techniques for liver biopsy, in order to improve the understanding of liver pathological changes among clinicians, strengthen the association between clinical practice and pathology, and provide help to the diagnosis of liver diseases, especially difficult liver diseases.
ABSTRACT
Gas gangrene is an emergency condition, which usually develops after injuries or surgery. This study was designed to investigate clinical characteristics, appropriate therapy, and effective control of nosocomial cross-infection of gas gangrene in Wenchuan earthquake victims. Data on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of confirmed, suspected, or highly suspected gas gangrene were collected. Sixty-seven (2.41%) cases of suspected gas gangrene were found, in which 32 cases were highly suspected of gas gangrene and 5 cases were confirmed by culture of Clostridium perfringens. Thereof, injury sites were mainly located on the limbs, and typical indications, including crepitation, severe localized pain, swelling, wound discoloration, dark red or black necrotic muscle, foul smell as well as different degrees of systemic toxic performance were common among them. After hospitalization, all patients were isolated and had surgery quickly to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue. The wounds were also exposed for drainage and washed or padded with 3% liquid hydrogen peroxide for disinfection before all diagnostic test results were available. Additionally, high doses of antibiotics (mainly penicillin) were given for the prevention of infection, and supportive therapy was applied for corresponding symptoms control. Among those cases, no fatality was reported. In summary, in post-disaster emergency relief, the diagnosis of gas gangrene should be primarily based on clinical manifestations; while patient isolation, wound debridement and disinfection, as well as antibiotics treatment, is the main measures for proper treatment and control of nosocomial infection for gas gangrene.
ABSTRACT
With the availality of new nucleotides (acid) analogues,the experience of anti-virus treatment has been continuously enriched.However,the problem of drug resistance becomes increasingly significant and the concern of individualized strategies,duration and endpoints of therapy as well as drug-resistance prevention for nucleoside (acid) analogues treatment has become a hot issue.Thus,the European Association for the Study of the Liver updated their guideline on diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B based on the principles of evidence-based medicine,so as to make it more flexible and practical.We briefly review and compare the updated content of this new guideline,and make analysis combined with the clinical practice,so as to promote the standardization of diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B.