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Ridziauskas M, Zablockienė B, Jančorienė L, Samuilis A, Zablockis R, Jackevičiūtė A. Assessment of Liver Stiffness Regression and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients after Treatment with Direct-Acting Antiviral Drugs. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 57:medicina57030210. [PMID: 33652777 PMCID: PMC7996730 DOI: 10.3390/medicina57030210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Chronic hepatitis C virus infection affects about 71 million people worldwide. It is one of the most common chronic liver conditions associated with an increased risk of developing liver cirrhosis and cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in liver fibrosis and the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma after direct-acting antiviral drug therapy, and to assess factors, linked with these outcomes. Materials and Methods: 70 chronic hepatitis C patients were evaluated for factors linked to increased risk of de novo liver cancer and ≥ 20% decrease of ultrasound transient elastography values 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results: The primary outcome was an improvement of liver stiffness at the end of treatment (p = 0.004), except for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (p = 0.49). Logistic regression analysis revealed factors associated with ≥ 20% decrease of liver stiffness values: lower degree of steatosis in liver tissue biopsy (p = 0.053); no history of interferon-based therapy (p = 0.045); elevated liver enzymes (p = 0.023–0.036); higher baseline liver stiffness value (p = 0.045) and absence of splenomegaly (p = 0.035). Hepatocellular carcinoma developed in 4 (5.7%) patients, all with high alpha-fetoprotein values (p = 0.0043) and hypoechoic liver mass (p = 0.0001), three of these patients had diabetes mellitus type 2. Conclusions: Liver stiffness decrease was significant as early as 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Patients with diabetes and advanced liver disease are at higher risk of developing non-regressive fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma even after successful treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martynas Ridziauskas
- Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +370-606-98744
| | - Birutė Zablockienė
- Center of Infectious Diseases, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, LT-08406 Vilnius, Lithuania; (B.Z.); (L.J.)
- Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Dermatovenerology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Ligita Jančorienė
- Center of Infectious Diseases, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, LT-08406 Vilnius, Lithuania; (B.Z.); (L.J.)
- Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Dermatovenerology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Artūras Samuilis
- Center of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, LT-08661 Vilnius, Lithuania;
- Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Rolandas Zablockis
- Center of Pulmonology and Allergology, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, Santariskiu 2, LT-08661 Vilnius, Lithuania;
- Clinic of Chest Diseases, Immunology and Allergology, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Aušrinė Jackevičiūtė
- Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania;
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Tsai YW, Zhou Z, Gong CSA, Tai DI, Cristea A, Lin YC, Tang YC, Tsui PH. Ultrasound Detection of Liver Fibrosis in Individuals with Hepatic Steatosis Using the Homodyned K Distribution. Ultrasound Med Biol 2021; 47:84-94. [PMID: 33109381 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Acoustic structure quantification (ASQ) based on the analysis of ultrasound backscattered statistics has been reported to detect liver fibrosis without significant hepatic steatosis. This study proposed using ultrasound parametric imaging based on the parameter α of the homodyned K (HK) distribution for staging liver fibrosis in patients with significant hepatic steatosis. Raw ultrasound image data were acquired from patients (n = 237) to construct B-mode and HK α parametric images, which were compared with the focal disturbance (FD) ratio obtained from ASQ on the basis of histologic evidence (METAVIR fibrosis score and hepatic steatosis severity). The data were divided into group I (n = 173; normal to mild hepatic steatosis) and group II (n = 64; with moderate to severe hepatic steatosis) for statistical analysis through one-way analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The results showed that the HK α parameter monotonically decreased as the liver fibrosis stage increased (p < .05); concurrently, the FD ratio increased (p < .05). For group I, the areas under the ROC (AUROCs) obtained using the FD ratio and the α parameter (AUROCFD and AUROCα) were, respectively, 0.56 and 0.55, 0.68 and 0.68, 0.64 and 0.64 and 0.62 and 0.62 for diagnosing liver fibrosis ≥F1, ≥F2, ≥F3 and ≥F4. The values of AUROCFD and AUROCα for group II were, respectively, 0.88 and 0.91, 0.81 and 0.81, 0.77 and 0.76 and 0.78 and 0.73 for diagnosing liver fibrosis ≥F1, ≥F2, ≥F3 and ≥F4. As opposed to previous studies, ASQ was found to fail in characterizing liver fibrosis in group I; however, it was workable for identifying liver fibrosis in patients with significant hepatic steatosis (group II). Compared with ASQ, HK imaging provided improved diagnostic performance in the early detection of liver fibrosis coexisting with moderate to severe hepatic steatosis. Ultrasound HK imaging is recommended as a strategy to evaluate early fibrosis risk in patients with significant hepatic steatosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Wei Tsai
- Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Zhuhuang Zhou
- College of Life Science and Bioengineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Cihun-Siyong Alex Gong
- Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Department of Ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Dar-In Tai
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Anca Cristea
- Department of Physics and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Yu-Ching Lin
- Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, at Keelung and Chang Gung University, Taiwan
| | - Ya-Chun Tang
- Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Po-Hsiang Tsui
- Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
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Radu-Ionita F, Pyrsopoulos NT, Jinga M, Tintoiu IC, Sun Z, Bontas E. Viral Hepatitis B. Liver Diseases 2020. [PMCID: PMC7122759 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-24432-3_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was first discovered on aboriginal Australians in 1963. Epidemiological studies soon recognized that HBV is a global chronic liver disease, with the highest prevalence rates in Asia and Africa. HBV is highly infectious, and in most cases transmitted from family members. Infections acquired during the perinatal period have a 90% chance of progressing to persistent HBV infection. This rate decreases to 2.3% when infection occurs at college student age. The persistent HBV infection starts with the immune tolerance phase when our immune system may recognize HBV antigens, but does not produce significant inflammation. An immune clearance reaction may develop to terminate HBV replication two to four decades later. When this immune clearance reaction successfully suppresses HBV replication, HBsAg carriers may progress to the residual phase. About 50% of HBsAg carriers ultimately clear HBsAg at age 80. Those patients unable to clear HBV replication smoothly have increased risk of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocarcinogenesis. Current therapies decrease hepatic decompensation and increase survival rate. However, the sustained virologic response rate is lower than 40%. About 50% of patients experience a clinical flare within one year after therapy ends. Further studies will be needed to improve sustained virologic response rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florentina Radu-Ionita
- Faculty of Medicine, “Titu Maiorescu” University, Central Military Emergency University Hospital “Dr. Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania
| | | | - Mariana Jinga
- Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Central Military Emergency University Hospital “Dr. Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Ion C. Tintoiu
- Faculty of Medicine, “Titu Maiorescu” University, Central Military Emergency University Hospital “Dr. Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Zhonghua Sun
- Medical Radiation Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA Australia
| | - Ecaterina Bontas
- “Prof. C.C. Iliescu” Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Bucharest, Romania
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