Usefulness of non-invasive markers for predicting significant fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease.

The purpose of this prospective study was to verify and compare the strengths of various blood markers and fibrosis models in predicting significant liver fibrosis. One hundred fifty-eight patients with chronic liver disease who underwent liver biopsy were enrolled. The mean age was 41 yr and male patients accounted for 70.2%. The common causes of liver disease were hepatitis B (67.7%) and C (16.5%) and fatty liver (9.5%). Stages of liver fibrosis (F0-4) were assessed according to the Batts and Ludwig scoring system. Significant fibrosis was defined as > or =F2. Sixteen blood markers were measured along with liver biopsy, and estimates of hepatic fibrosis were calculated using various predictive models. Predictive accuracy was evaluated with a receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Liver biopsy revealed significant fibrosis in 106 cases (67.1%). On multivariate analysis, alpha2-macroglobulin, hyaluronic acid, and haptoglobin were found to be independently related to significant hepatic fibrosis. A new predictive model was constructed based on these variables, and its area under the ROC curve was 0.91 (95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.96). In conclusion, alpha2-macroglobulin, hyaluronic acid, and haptoglobin levels are independent predictors for significant hepatic fibrosis in chronic liver disease.

Colonoscopy evaluation after short-term anti-tuberculosis treatment in nonspecific ulcers on the ileocecal area.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of colonoscopy follow-up after short-term anti-tuberculosis treatment in patients with nonspecific ulcers on ileocecal areas being suspicious of tuberculous colitis. METHODS: We prospectively analyzed the colonoscopic findings before and after short term anti-tuberculosis treatment in 18 patients with nonspecific ulcers on the ileocecal area and compared them with 7 patients of confirmed tuberculous colitis by acid-fast bacilli or caseating granuloma on colonic biopsy. RESULTS: Mean duration for short-term follow-up was 107.3 d with combined chemotherapy containing isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. Seven patients with tuberculous colitis showed complete healing of active ulcers after short-term medication. After short-term anti-tuberculosis treatment, follow-up colonoscopy findings divided 18 patients with nonspecific ulcers into two groups by ulcer state. One is the "suspicious tuberculous colitis group" showing healing of ulcers and erosions and another is the "suspicious inflammatory bowel disease group" showing active ulcers with or without aggravation of the lesion. Finally, all 9 of the "suspicious tuberculous colitis group" were diagnosed as tuberculous colitis showing no recurrence of ulcers after termination of 9 mo of anti-tuberculosis medication. Patients of the "suspicious inflammatory bowel disease group" were finally diagnosed as Crohn's disease or nonspecific colonic ulcers during long-term follow up. CONCLUSION: Follow-up colonoscopy shows a healing stage ulcer or scarring change without an active ulcer with just 2 mo to 3 mo of medication in patients with tuberculous colitis. Colonoscopy follow-up after short term anti-tuberculosis trial in patients with nonspecific ulcers on the ileocecal area is valuable in making early differential diagnosis of tuberculous colitis.

Giant hyperplasia of the caudate lobe in a patient with liver cirrhosis: case report and literature review.

The caudate lobe often exhibits enlargement and nodularity in cases of cirrhosis, which makes differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma from other mass-like lesions of the caudate lobe difficult in cirrhotic patients. A 12x6 cm mass-like enlargement of the caudate lobe was incidentally found by computed tomography in a 38-year-old man suffering from alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Magnetic resonance imaging, liver colloidal scan, and sonoguided liver biopsy were used for the differential diagnosis. A literature review revealed two case reports, all of which (like ours) presented with an enlarged caudate lobe supplied with blood via a branch of the portal vein. Therefore, in cases of giant hyperplasia of the caudate lobe, confirmation of the caudate lobe blood supply and the enhancement pattern might be important for the differentiation.

Distant skeletal muscle metastasis from intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma presenting as Budd-Chiari syndrome.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a malignant neoplasm arising from the biliary epithelium, which frequently invades adjacent organs or metastasizes to other visceral organs such as the lungs, bones, adrenals, and brain. However, distant skeletal muscle metastasis of cholangiocarcinoma has never been described before to the best of our knowledge and, furthermore, Budd-Chiari syndrome secondary to intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is also extremely rare. Here we present the first case overall of distant muscle metastasis from intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma presenting as Budd-Chiari syndrome. A 44-year-old man admitted to the hospital with complaints of abdominal distension, edema of both legs, back pain and anorexia of 30 d' duration. Computed tomography and ultrasonography-guided percutaneous muscle biopsy established intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with disseminated thrombosis from inferior vena cava to bilateral iliac and femoral veins, and multiple skeletal muscle metastases in bilateral buttock and erector spinal muscle.

[A case of ulcerative colitis relapsed by influenza vaccination].

Although a large number of studies have reported the causes of the exacerbation of ulcerative colitis (UC), the effect of influenza vaccination on the relapse of UC has not been reported. We experienced a case of prompt exacerbation of quiescent UC due to influenza vaccination. A 39-year-old woman was diagnosed as UC 4-years ago and was well controlled with oral mesalazine. She experienced abdominal pain and frequent bowel movements with hematochezia 3 days after the vaccination. On admission, laboratory findings showed elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. Sigmoidoscopy showed marked edematous mucosa on rectum and sigmoid colon with fine ulceration and spontaneous bleeding. She recovered from the exacerbation of UC after steroid treatment. Vaccination should be administered to the patients with inflammatory bowel disease with the caution of its possible side effects.

[A case of ischemic colitis in a patient with Takayasu's arteritis].

Ischemic colitis is one of the most common intestinal ischemic injury in which more than 90% of patient are over 60 year-old. It results from impaired perfusion of blood to the bowel and is rarely caused by vasculitis such as systemic lupus erythematosus, polyarteritis nodosa, and Takayasu's arteritis. Takayasu's arteritis affects the aortic arch, medium-sized and large arteries but rarely involves inferior mesenteric artery. We report a case of Takayasu's arteritis involving inferior mesenteric artery which developed ischemic colitis in a 70 year old female. To the author's knowledge this is the first case report in Korea. A 70 year old woman who had suffered from Takayasu's arteritis for 5 years was admitted for sudden abdominal pain and hematochezia. On sigmoidoscopy, there were multiple segmental longitudinal ulcerations around splenic flexure and diffuse hemorrhagic edematous mucosa from descending colon to sigmoid colon. On abdominal CT angiography, inferior mesenteric artery was not traced. We diagnosed it as ischemic colitis combined with Takayasu's arteritis. After the conservative treatment, abdominal pain and hematochezia disappeared. She was followed up to 2 years without recurrence of symptoms.

[Clinical factors that predicts successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Antibiotic resistance and compliance are regarded to be important which affect the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). However, it is not easy to apply the antibiotic resistance test in clinical field. We investigated other clinical factors predicting the successful eradication of H. pylori. METHODS: From January 2004 to March 2005, 195 patients with documented H. pylori infection received proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based triple therapy for one week and were assessed for the underlying chronic illnesses, smoking, alcohol habit, therapeutic indication and compliance. RESULTS: The intention-to-treat (ITT) eradication rates were 69.2%, while per protocol (PP) analysis with 169 patients showed an initial eradication rate of 79.9%. The eradication rates of H. pylori according to the underlying disease were 73.9% (17/23) in diabetes, 66.7% (18/27) in hypertension, 66.7% (2/3) in renal disease, 100% (9/9) in liver disease, 63.7% (7/11) in cardiovascular disease and 64.3% (9/14) in chronic NSAIDs user. There was no statistical difference in the eradication rates according to the therapeutic indication, underlying disease, sex, age, smoking, alcohol, and PPI. However, the eradication rate was statistically lower in patients with multiple underlying diseases. Eradication rate was significantly higher in patients with good compliance than in those with poor compliance in taking medications (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Underlying chronic disease does not affect the H. pylori eradication rate significantly. In clinical practice, apart from antibiotic resistance test, drug compliance is the most important factor affecting the H. pylori eradication rate.

[A case of carcinoid tumor of the common bile duct].

Majority of malignant neoplasms arising from the extrahepatic bile duct are adenocarcinomas. Carcinoid tumors at this site are extremely rare. We report a 67-year-old woman with malignant carcinoid tumor of the common bile duct. She presented with obstructive jaundice of 1 week's duration. Abdominal CT and ERCP revealed a common bile duct mass. She underwent Whipple's operation and was diagnosed as malignant carcinoid tumor histologically and immunohistochemically.

Four cases of gastric submucosal mass suspected as anisakiasis.

Anisakiasis is a parasitic disease caused by ingestion of raw fish infected with anisakid larvae. Endoscopic changing patterns of submucosal lesions in chronic gastric anisakiasis have not been known yet. Here we report 4 cases of suspected gastric anisakiasis which were improved during follow-up periods without surgical treatment. The patients presented with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting after consuming raw marine fish, and visited our gastroenterology outpatient department. Their endoscopic findings showed firm and yellowish submucosal masses accompanied with eccentric erosions. Histologic findings showed severe eosinophilic infiltrations. In blood tests, peripheral eosinophil counts and total IgE levels were elevated. We believed that all cases were caused by larval anisakid infections. The submucosal mass lesions disappeared during the follow-up periods of 2 to 4 mo.

A case of transradial carotid stenting in a patient with total occlusion of distal abdominal aorta.

We report a case with severe carotid stenosis in which carotid stenting was performed via the radial artery due to total occlusion of distal abdominal aorta. The radial approach offers a potential alternative in cases in which the femoral approach is problematic.