Assessment and monitoring of liver function by ¹³C-aminopyrine breath test after selective transarterial chemoembolisation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Liver function and tumor staging are essential parameters for selection of treatment modalities in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is associated with a risk of deterioration of liver function. In clinical routine hepatic function in patients with liver cirrhosis is assessed by the Child-Pugh-classification. Dynamic breath tests allow the assessment of the hepatic functional mass and have the potential to give more accurate information on hepatic function periinterventionally. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective clinical study was performed in 13 patients receiving a total of 18 TACE sessions. (13)C-aminopyrine breath test was performed the day before TACE, 2 days and 30 days after TACE and correlated with standard laboratory work-up of the patients. RESULTS: Fourteen TACE sessions were performed in Child A liver cirrhosis, 4 in Child B cirrhosis. All patients presented with impaired aminopyrine metabolism at baseline. No significant changes in the (13)C aminopyrine breath test following TACE were observed. Two patients treated in Child A cirrhosis decompensated to Child B, one of them recovered. No further decompensation was observed in patients treated in Child B cirrhosis. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Liver function assessment with (13)C-aminopyrine breath test and Child-Pugh-classification following TACE was discordant in a large proportion of patients. Whether a quantification of mitochondrial liver function in patients planned to undergo locoregional treatment of HCC in liver cirrhosis is helpful in the prediction of postprocedural liver decompensation needs to be addressed in larger prospective clinical trials.

[Primary central nervous system lymphoma as a neurological manifestation of AIDS stage]. / Primäres Lymphom des zentralen Nervensystems als Neuromanifestation im AIDS-Stadium.

In patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is over 100 times greater than with noninfected persons. Primary central nervous system lymphoma as a complication of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs in up to 2.4% of all cases and is strongly associated with the Epstein-Barr virus. The prognosis is very poor, with a mean survival time of 21 to 27 days without therapy and up to 119 days with radiation therapy. We describe the course of seven AIDS patients with histologically proven primary central nervous system lymphoma and present a review of clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and therapy. The main criteria for differential diagnosis from other secondary neuromanifestations such as cerebral toxoplasmosis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, abscesses, and infarctions are described.