[Hepatolithiasis and Caroli's disease in Argentina: results of a multicenter study]

The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence, epidemiology and clinical-therapeutical evolution of hepatolithiasis (HL) in Argentina. With this purpose a survey was conducted sending a questionnaire to ten referencial and interventional radiology centers in the country. Seven centers answered on time. In the last five years a total of 8,736 consecutive patients were examined for cholangiography (endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, PTC). A total of 5,920 (68%) were biliary lithiasis and 53 (0.9%, range 0.5-2.6%) of these were HL. In case of HL the diagnostic procedure was the ERCP in 68% of the cases, and the PTC in the remainder 32%. The patients with HL (53% females, mean age 52, range 23-85) clinically presented cholangitis (79%); pancreatitis (6%) and five (9.4%) showed evolution to a biliary cirrhosis. Associated diseases or abnormalities of the biliary tree were: biliary postsurgical strictures (BPS), 28%; Caroli's Syndrome, 20%; and choledocholithiasis, 28%. While a 9.4% presented a "biliary history" (that was defined as two or more episodes of biliary surgery) and a 5.7% lacked associated or predisposing diseases. Follow-up was lost in 23% of the cases and in 77% a follow up of 38 months (range 8-60) was observed with 4.8% mortality rate. The treatment was hepatobiliary surgery in 58% of the cases; endoscopic papillotomy in 17% and combined treatments that included extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in 15%. Four out of 53 cases (7.5%) received UDCA as the only successful therapy. HL is an entity with high biliary morbidity in 85% of the cases and development in to cirrhosis in 9.4%. When the diagnosis is made in the western world both BPS and Caroli must be discarded first. Combined treatments or only UDCA are new therapeutical alternative in the western world.

Fulminant or subfulminant non-A, non-B viral hepatitis: the role of hepatitis C and E viruses

BACKGROUND

Although non-A, non-B (NANB) viral hepatitis has been implicated as an etiology of fulminant hepatitis, hepatitis C virus (HCV) has not been shown to result in acute hepatic failure and hepatitis E virus (HEV) has predominantly been associated with fulminant hepatitis among pregnant women.

METHODS

Using polymerase chain reaction to detect HCV and HEV genomes, four-antigen radioimmunoblot assay (4-RIBA) to measure anti-HCV antibodies, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect anti-HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies, 17 patients with sporadic fulminant or subfulminant hepatitis of presumed NANB viral etiology were studied.

RESULTS

The diagnosis of acute NANB viral hepatitis was made based on clinical information, serological tests, biochemical profiles, and pathological features. All 17 patients were negative for anti-HEV IgM antibodies and HEV RNA in either serum and/or liver. HCV RNAs were detected in 2 patients although anti-HCV antibodies were negative in all of them.

CONCLUSIONS

It is shown that HCV is infrequently associated with and HEV is not an identifiable cause of presumed NANB fulminant or subfulminant hepatitis in this patient population. Although further studies will be required for identification of the causative agent, it is possible that another agent is responsible for the occurrence of sporadic NANB fulminant or subfulminant hepatitis.