Transient Elastography Is the Best-Performing Non-Invasive Test of Liver Fibrosis in Obese Asian Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Pilot, Cross-Sectional Study.

Background and Objectives: The prevalence of NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is increasing, and up to 64% of Asian patients with NAFLD are obese. Non-invasive tests (NITs) for the assessment of liver fibrosis are increasingly being used, but data on their performance in obese Asian patients are lacking. In this pilot cross-sectional study, we aim to compare the distribution of serum and radiological markers of fibrosis between obese Asian biopsy-proven NAFLD patients with and without fibrosis and estimate the diagnostic accuracies of these indices. Materials and Methods: Obese Asian patients with NAFLD and who had undergone a liver biopsy showing histological evidence of NAFLD were invited to participate. Liver fibrosis was assessed using laboratory (APRI, AAR, BARD, FIB4, NFS, and Asia-Pacific NAFLD advanced fibrosis score) and imaging modalities (TE: transient elastography, MRE: magnetic resonance elastography, and SWU: shear wave ultrasonography). Results: A total of 16 patients were included in the final analysis. On liver biopsy, nine patients (56.3%) had significant fibrosis (F2 or higher), and six of these patients had advanced fibrosis (F3 or higher). F4 fibrosis was present in one patient (6.3%). For the laboratory markers, we found that the BARD score correctly identified five out of six patients with advanced fibrosis (83.4%, p value 0.045). Among all the NITs studied, liver stiffness measured by TE had the highest accuracy of 87.5% in its established threshold of 8.5 kPa for the detection of advanced fibrosis. MRE also performed well (81.2% in 3.64 kPa). Conclusions: In conclusion, TE has performed well in the detection of advanced fibrosis in obese Asian patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD in our pilot study. Further large-scale definitive studies are needed to validate the results of our findings.

Predictive value of post-operative drain amylase levels for post-operative pancreatic fistula.

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Traditionally, surgically placed pancreatic drains are removed, at the discretion of the operating surgeon. Moving towards enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), we looked for predictors for early drain removal. The purpose of this paper was to establish which postoperative days' (POD) drain amylase is most predictive against post-operative pancreatic fistula (POPF). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 196 patients who underwent pancreatic resection at our institute from January 2006 to October 2013. Drain amylase levels were routinely measured. The International Study Group of Pancreatic Fistula (ISGPF) definition of POPF, and clinical severity grading were used. RESULTS: 5.1% (10 of 196) patients developed ISGPF Grades B and C POPF. Negative predictive value of developing significant POPF, if drain amylase values were low on PODs 1 and 3 was 98.7% (95% CI: 0.93-1.00). This translated to confidence in removing surgically placed pancreatic drains, at POD 1 and 3 when drain amylase values are low. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low drain amylase values on POD 1 and 3, are unlikely to develop POPF and may have pancreatic drains removed earlier.