Egyptian revalidation of non-invasive parameters for predicting esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

In resource-limited countries, non-invasive tests for assessing liver fibrosis are a potential alternative to costly endoscopic screening for esophageal varices. We aimed to validate several non-invasive parameters for predicting the presence of varices.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between September 2006 and August 2017, a total of 46,014 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy as one of the perquisites for receiving hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy were enrolled and divided into group I (without varices) and group II (with varices). Non-invasive parameters of fibrosis, namely Lok index, Bonacini score, liver stiffness, FIB-4, Baveno, and extended Baveno criteria, were validated.

RESULTS

Lok index, Bonacini score, liver stiffness, and FIB-4 had areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of >0.6 (all P < 0.01 for the null hypothesis that the AUC was 0.5) for determination of the presence/absence of varices, with cutoff values of 0.80, 6.5, 21.9 kPa, and 2.94, and sensitivities of 74%, 74%, 66%, and 83%, respectively. The expanded Baveno VI criteria performed better than the Baveno VI criteria (spared endoscopy rate 81% versus 63%).

CONCLUSION

The use of non-invasive methods is of limited value in predicting esophageal varices. The limited accuracy of ≤60% may delay the use of appropriate primary prophylaxis against variceal bleeding in a large proportion of cirrhotic patients.

Colorectal cancer in Arab world: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing among young individuals in the Arab world as well as in other regions of the world.

AIM

To explore the incidence and prevalence of CRC in the Arab world.

METHODS

The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO and Wiley databases were searched to retrieve relevant articles irrespective of the language or the publication year. The search terms were "("colon OR rectum OR sigmoid OR rectal OR colonic OR colorectal") AND ("cancer OR malignancy OR malignant OR neoplasm") AND ("Jordan" OR "United Arab Emirates" OR "Bahrain" OR "Tunisia" OR "Algeria" OR "Djibouti" OR "Saudi Arabia" OR "Sudan" OR "Syria" OR "Somalia" OR "Iraq" OR "Oman" OR "Palestine" OR "Qatar" OR "Comoros" OR "Kuwait" OR "Lebanon" OR "Libya" OR "Egypt" OR "Morocco" OR "Mauritania" OR "Yemen"). Reviews, meta-analyses, and articles containing nonoriginal data were excluded. Retrieved articles were screened, and relevant data were extracted. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Nine studies were included. Five of the studies provided information regarding the prevalence of CRC. The prevalence of CRC was 0.72% in Saudi Arabia and 0.78% in the United Arab Emirate, while in Egypt, it ranged from 0.4% to 14%. Four studies showed information regarding the incidence. The annual incidence rate of CRC in Qatar was 7.5/100000/year. In Egypt, the crude incidence rate (CIR) in males was 3.1 for colon cancer and 1 for rectal cancer, while in females, it was 2.3 for colon cancer and 0.8 for rectal cancer. The age-standardized rate for CRC incidence in 2003 was 36.90 for males, 26.50 for females, and 30.49 for both sexes in Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the CIRs in Saudi Arabia were 3.6 and 2.1 in females for colon cancer and rectal cancer, respectively, while in males, it was 3.3 and 2.8 for colon cancer and rectal cancer, respectively. One study in Egypt revealed that 25% of CRC cases occurred among individuals younger than 40 years old.

CONCLUSION

There is a considerable prevalence of CRC in some Arab countries. More studies are needed to explore the incidence and prevalence of CRC in the rest of the Arab world.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori in the Arab world: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.. [DOI: 10.22541/au.162184164.44494990/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

Purpose: We aimed to conduct an updated systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to estimate the efficacy of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) treatment strategies in Arab countries. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), EBSCO, and EMBASE from inception to July 18, 2020, using boolean operators. Retrieved articles were screened, and relevant data were extracted. We used R programming software to analyze extracted data. Results: Fifty-four articles (n= 7829 patients) were included in the NMA. Pooled overall analysis demonstrated that adjuvant therapy (standard triple or sequential therapy plus another adjuvant drug) was the best treatment with higher odds of eradication rate [OR= 6.42, 95% CI (1.37: 30.05), P-score= 0.21]. Moreover, Seqential therapy (SQT) and Quinolone based therapy (QBT) were associated with higher eradication rate compared to other regimens [OR= 4.83, 95% CI (1.49: 15.64), P-score= 0.30] and [OR= 4.32, 95% CI (1.15: 16.16), P-score= 0.36], respectively. In adults, the efficacy of QBT was higher than other stratigies in terms of H. pylori eradication [OR= 2.00, 95% CI (1.09, 3.69), P score= 0.19]. In naïve population, QBT and SQT were associated with substantial eradication rate [OR= 1.94, 95% CI (1.19: 3.16), P score=0.19] and [OR= 1.66, 95% CI (1.10: 2.50), P score=0.33], respectively. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that standard triple or sequential therapy plus another adjuvant drug, QBT and SQT therapies were the most effective regimens for eradicating H.pylori in Arab countries.

Real-world results of direct-acting antivirals use for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in old patients

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Old people with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) were considered a difficult-to-treat category with more frequent adverse events until recently. Interferon-free direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) improved treatment adherence and quality of life of old patients. In this study, we aimed at reporting the real-world efficacy and safety of DAAs, in addition to predictors of sustained virological response (SVR) in old chronic HCV population.

METHODS

This is a prospective observational intention-to-treat analysis that included old chronic hepatitis C genotype-4 patients (> 65 years) treated in a single specialized viral hepatitis treatment center in Egypt. Treatment regimens were allocated according to national guidelines for treatment of hepatitis C. Primary outcome was undetectable HCV-RNA at 12-week post-treatment by PCR. Secondary outcomes were identification of predictors of SVR and assessment of safety related issues.

RESULTS

Our study included 864 patients (64% females) with mean age of 67.7 ± 2.8 years. Overall SVR rate was 98.9% while SVR rates for sofosbuvir/daclatasvir/ribavirin, paritaprevir/ombitasvir/ritonavir/ribavirin, sofosbuvir/daclatasvir, sofosbuvir/ledipasvir/ribavirin, sofosbuvir/simeprevir/daclatasvir/ribavirin, sofosbuvir/simeprevir, interferon/sofosbuvir/ribavirin and sofosbuvir/ribavirin were 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 99.3%, 98% and 94.2%, respectively. DAAs were well tolerated. None of the patients discontinued the treatment due to adverse effects. Higher albumin, higher platelet count, lower bilirubin and lower stage of fibrosis were among predictors of favourable response.

CONCLUSION

Different DAAs regimens were safe and effective in old Egyptian patients with chronic HCV.

Risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation with direct-acting antivirals against hepatitis C virus: A cohort study from Egypt and meta-analysis of published data

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients treated with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) became an issue. However, its frequency has been poorly estimated, because of the varying definitions used and evaluation of heterogeneous study populations, including those concurrently treated for HBV.

METHODS

We prospectively followed HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive Egyptians undergoing interferon-free DAAs, to estimate the risk of HBV reactivation and HBV-related hepatitis. We also conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the reactivation risk using published data obtained from a systematic review of PubMed/Embase, in addition to our Egyptian data. We applied a standard definition of HBV reactivation proposed by the international liver associations (APASL and AASLD).

RESULTS

Of 4471 CHC patients, 35 HBsAg-positive patients started interferon-free DAAs without HBV nucleos(t)ide analogues in our Egyptian cohort. Ten experienced HBV reactivation (28.6%), of whom 1 developed hepatitis (10.0%). Our systematic review identified 18 papers. The pooled reactivation risk in HBsAg-positive patients was 18.2% (95% CI: 7.9%-30.7%) without HBV therapy and 0.0% (95% CI: 0.0%-0.0%) with HBV nucleos(t)ide analogue. The pooled risk of hepatitis in those with HBV reactivation was 12.6% (95% CI: 0.0%-34.7%). The pooled reactivation risk in HBsAg-negative, antibody to HBV core antigen-positive (anti-HBc-positive) patients was negligible (0.1%, 95% CI: 0.0%-0.3%), irrespective of the presence of antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs).

CONCLUSIONS

We confirmed high HBV reactivation risk in HBsAg-positive patients undergoing DAAs, with only a minority developing clinically important hepatitis. The risk is negligible for HBsAg-negative anti-HBc-positive patients.