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The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected more than 5 million people globally. Data on the prevalence and degree of COVID-19 associated liver injury among patients with COVID-19 remain limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence and degree of liver injury between patients with severe and non-severe COVID-19.

Brunner’s gland hamartoma (BGH) is a rare sub-epithelial tumour of the duodenum, which may cause haemorrhagic or obstructive gastrointestinal symptoms. Their accurate histological diagnosis often remains elusive before resection. Although endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is considered an excellent modality to study lesions within the gastrointestinal wall, only a few reports have described endosonographic characteristics of BGHs. A reliable pre-resection diagnosis with EUS may not only allay fear of malignancy but may as well avert a major surgery for the patients. In this report, we present a rare case of a large BGH in a young female who presented with acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Here, the endosonographic features assuaged the concern for malignancy while aiding in complete and uneventful surgical resection of the tumour via a submucosal plane.

Cancers are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with gastrointestinal (GI) luminal cancers accounting for a large proportion of cancer incidence. Chemoprevention of GI luminal cancers is important to reduce this cancer burden. Screening for and eradication of Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) in areas with high gastric cancer incidence is a safe and effective strategy to decrease the incidence of gastric cancer. Eradication of H. pylorialso seems to be effective in preventing metachronous cancer development after endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer. For the average risk individual, COX inhibitors may have a role in reducing the incidence of adenoma formation as well as colorectal cancer, bearing in mind its inherent risks. There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend a chemoprevention agent against esophageal and small intestine cancer.

Ex vivo gene therapy, a technique where genetic manipulation of cells is undertaken remotely and more safely since it is outside the body, is an emerging therapeutic strategy particularly well suited to targeting a specific organ rather than for treating a whole organism. The eye and visual pathways therefore make an attractive target for this approach. With blindness still so prevalent worldwide, new approaches to treatment would also be widely applicable and a significant advance in improving quality of life. Despite being a relatively new approach, ex vivo gene therapy has already achieved significant advances in the treatment of blindness in pre-clinical trials. In particular, advances are being achieved in corneal disease, glaucoma, retinal degeneration, stroke and multiple sclerosis through genetic re-programming of cells to replace degenerate cells and through more refined neuroprotection, modulation of inflammation and replacement of deficient protein. In this review we discuss the latest developments in ex vivo gene therapy relevant to the visual pathways and highlight the challenges that need to be overcome for progress into clinical trials.

•ABP (Albumin >40g/l, Bilirubin <22μmol/l and Platelet >114,000/μl) criteria is a novel, simple and validated criteria for the exclusion of high-risk varices (HRV).•Using simple biochemical parameters, ABP criteria is a useful tool that is easily scalable in resource limited or pandemic settings to risk-stratify cACLD patients for screening gastroscopy.•Among cACLD patients whom screening gastroscopy were spared, ABP criteria can be used for annual screening of HRV, without the need for transient elastography.

•m-APRI, a non-invasive tool, can predict the presence or absence of advanced fibrosis and liver cirrhosis with accuracy.•m-APRI performs better than APRI and BARD in predicting both advanced fibrosis and liver cirrhosis in NAFLD.•The performance of m-APRI is similar compared to FIB-4 and NFS in NAFLD.•At cut-offs of 5.84 and 9 m-APRI is adequate for excluding advanced fibrosis and liver cirrhosis respectively in NAFLD.