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Introduction The role of thrombophilia screening and antithrombotic therapy in unselected women undergone Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) is largely unknown. Nonetheless, in many Countries infertile women undergo thrombophilia screening and/or antithrombotic therapy. Materials and Methods We carried out a follow-up study. The original sample (n = 1107) consisted of infertile women observed in 13 years. A cohort of 157 women with at least 1 cycle before thrombophilia test and 1 after test was investigated. All underwent thrombophilia screening; an antithrombotic treatment was prescribed in 216 out of 801 cycles. Clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were the main clinical objectives. Results Overall, 15 (9.6%) women carried thrombophilia. The Cox regression showed that LMWH alone or combined with ASA was significantly associated with the outcome "live birth" “live births” (p: 0.015, HR: 2.8, 95%CI: 1.2-6.6 for combined therapy), independently of the carriership of thrombophilia. Women with a lower number of attempts had a higher likelihood of delivering a live-born child using the combined therapy (p Conclusions A potential benefit of LMWH in improving number of live births, independently of the presence of thrombophilia, is suggested. Universal thrombophilia screening before ART is not useful to discriminate women with a worse pregnancy prognosis.

A case of a CA 19-9 producing cystadenoma with mesenchymal stroma originating from the common hepatic duct is presented, with a review of the literature. The findings of ultrasound and CT scans and the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography picture allowed the establishment of a confident pre-operative diagnosis. Although there was an elevation of CA 19-9 serum levels, the resected specimen did not show any malignant focus at pathologic examination. After surgical excision, CA 19-9 serum levels returned to normal.

The objective of this study was to identify clinical, biochemical, ultrasound, and/or pathologic parameters capable of predicting survival in a cohort of patients with well compensated cirrhosis and small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were treated with percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI).The study group included 111 patients with Child--Pugh Class A cirrhosis and with one (93 patients) or two (18 patients) HCC nodules measuring5 cm in greatest dimension. All patients underwent multisession PEI. The prognostic values of pretreatment and post-treatment variables were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.The overall 3-year and 5-year survival rates of 62% and 41%, respectively, were not influenced by age, gender, duration of chronic hepatitis, serum albumin, prothrombin time ratio, total bilirubin, gamma-glutamyl transferase, hepatitis B surface antigen, antihepatitis C virus, HCC size, HCC ultrasound pattern, HCC histologic or cytologic grading, greatest spleen dimension, esophageal varices, or ascites. Levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)14 ng/mL (P0.006), alanine aminotransferase75 IU/L (P0.04), and aspartate aminotransferase80 IU/L (P0.009) and platelet count92 x 10(9)/L (P0.02) before treatment were independent predictors of decreased survival. Among post-treatment parameters, AFP levels 6 months after PEI13.3 ng/mL (P0.003) and HCC recurrence in another segment of the liver (P0.04) were linked to decreased survival in univariate analysis.Among patients with Child--Pugh Class A cirrhosis with small uninodular or binodular HCC who are treated with multisession PEI, those with elevated serum AFP and transaminase levels and low platelet count before treatment are characterized by decreased survival. During follow-up, intrahepatic recurrence of the tumor is the main factor affecting survival.

Background : In chronic hepatitis C the schedule of interferon (IFN), 3 MU thrice weekly (tiw) plus ribavirin (1000–1200 mg/daily) needs further evaluation, as IFN dosages >3 MU achieve better responses. Aims : To compare the efficacy of 5 MU tiw of IFN with (96 patients) or without ribavirin (96 patients) for 12 months in naive patients, to evaluate the effect of baseline features on the response to therapy, and to determine a reliable point in time during treatment to predict non-response. Results : Sustained virologic response was 20.8% (95% CI 13–29) with IFN monotherapy and 54.2% (95% CI 44–64) with combination ( P =0.0001), the relapse rate 39.4% (95% CI 23–56) and 9% (95% CI 1-16) ( P =0.0007), and the combined rate of sustained biochemical and virologic response 22.7% (95% CI 14–31) and 60.5% (95% CI 50–71) ( P =0.0001), respectively. Patients given combination therapy were more likely to respond regardless of baseline features. Apart from genotype non-1, predictive factors for IFN monotherapy were ineffective in predicting response to combination therapy. Using logistic regression analysis, IFN-ribavirin was the strongest predictor of response ( χ 2 =21.3; P =0.0001). Viral persistence at month 3 of therapy was a more accurate predictor than aminotransferase values for non-response to IFN monotherapy but not to combination therapy (positive predictive values of 98 and 82%, respectively). Conclusion : In this study, 5 MU of IFN combined with a standard dose of ribavirin has yielded the highest rate of sustained response reported to date. Further dose finding studies are warranted.

A novel rifabutin-based therapy is able to cure Helicobacter pylori infection in most patients who have failed eradication after standard proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based triple therapy. We compared this regimen with the quadruple therapy.A total of 135 patients were randomized into three groups who were treated for 10 days with pantoprazole 40 mg b.i.d., amoxycillin 1 g b.i.d., and rifabutin 150 mg o.d. (RAP50150 group), or 300 mg o.d. (RAP300 group), and pantoprazole 40 mg b.i.d., metronidazole 250 mg t.i.d., bismuth citrate 240 mg b.i.d., and tetracycline 500 mg q.i.d. (QT group). Before therapy, patients underwent endoscopy with biopsies for histology, culture and antibiotic susceptibility tests. H. pylori eradication was assessed by the 13C-urea breath test.On intention-to-treat analysis, eradication rates (with 95% confidence intervals [CI]) were 66.6% (53-80%) in the RAP150 and QT groups, respectively, and 86.6% (76-96%) in RAP300 group (p0.025). Most patients harboring metronidazole- and clarithromycin-resistant strains were eradicated at an equal rate by each of the three regimens. Side effects were observed in 9% and 11% of rifabutin-treated patients, and in 47% of those on quadruple therapy (p0.0001).In patients who failed standard eradicating treatments, a 10-day course of rifabutin with pantoprazole and amoxycillin is more effective and well tolerated than the quadruple therapy.

To evaluate damage to cirrhotic liver tissue after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).TACE was performed in 111 patients with HCC that involved less than 30% of the liver. Baseline liver function was evaluated with Child-Pugh scores and other indicators. Eighty-two patients had Child-Pugh class A disease, 27 had class B disease, and two had class C disease. All patients underwent chemotherapy followed by gelatin sponge particle embolization in the proper ("complete" embolization; n = 69) or right or left main ("partial" embolization; n = 42) hepatic artery. Liver function was assessed 4 months later, and 95 patients underwent a second TACE (complete embolization in 57, partial in 38). Liver function was again assessed 4 months later in 60 patients.No patient died. Child-Pugh scores increased in all patients from a mean 5.96 to 6.28 (not significant) and 6.51 (P =. 05) after first and second TACEs, respectively. In patients with class A disease, scores increased from a mean 5.37 to 5.73 (P =.01) and 5.89 (P =.001) after first and second TACEs, respectively; in patients with class B disease, scores changed from a mean of 7.48 to 7.67 and 7.30 after first and second TACEs, respectively (not significant).TACE does not induce significant long-term worsening of liver function in patients with class A or B cirrhosis.

Background/Aims: This study was aimed to determine whether host-dependent genetic factors modulate the outcome of HCV infection. Methods: HLA class II DRB and DQB typing was performed in 184 infected patients and 200 healthy volunteers. Among the patients, 149 subjects had persistent HCV viremia (Group 1) and 35 subjects underwent spontaneous viral clearance (Group 2). Group 1 included cirrhotic patients with transfusion-acquired infections ( n =79), asymptomatic HCV carriers ( n =42), and patients with chronic hepatitis C responsive to interferon therapy ( n =28). Results: Spontaneous viral clearance was associated with HLA DRB1*1104 ( pc =0.054, OR=4.51, 95% C.I. 2.02–10.1) and HLA DQB1*0301 ( pc =0.0039, OR=4.52, 95% C.I. 2.15–9.51). In Group 1 the haplotype DRB1*1104/DQB1*0301 was less frequent (4.8%) than in Group 2 (18.3%) ( pc =0.009, OR=7.38, 95% C.I. 2.58–21.59). At the HLA level, cirrhotic patients were not different from asymptomatic HCV carriers and patients with interferon-induced viral clearance. In cirrhotic patients infected with genotype 1b, the DQB1*0502 allele was more frequently found in those with rapidly progressive liver damage (OR=8.15, 95% C.I. 1.49–44.44), but the corrected p -value was not significant ( pc =0.09). Conclusions: The HLA haplotype DRB1*1104/DQB1*0301 appears to contribute to the spontaneous clearance of HCV infection. The predominance of the DQB1*0502 allele in cirrhotic patients with a rapidly progressive disease possibly reflects an influence of this allele on the progression of the HCV-related liver disease.

Uncontrolled, retrospective clinical studies have recently claimed that HCV infection could trigger the onset of diabetes mellitus (DM). We sought to verify the association between DM and liver diseases of different etiology, stage, and severity in a prospective study including gender- and age-matched controls.Two hundred forty-seven patients with liver cirrhosis (184 men, 116 with an associated hepatocellular carcinoma, 34% in Child-Pugh's class A) were evaluated (group 1). One hundred fifty-seven (63.5) of them were HCV positive, 38 (15.5%) HBV positive, 49 (19.8%) alcohol abusers, and three (1.2%) cryptogenic. Two control groups were also included. The first control group consisted of 138 patients with chronic hepatitis due to HCV infection (73.9%), HBV infection (15.9%), or alcohol abuse (10.2%) (group 2). The second control group included 494 patients with an acute osteoarticular trauma, age- and gender-matched with patients in group 1 (group 3).Diabetes mellitus was present in 32.3%, 3.6%, and 9.7% of patients in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. When compared with controls (group 3), DM was significantly less frequent in group 2 (p0.004) and significantly more frequent in group 1 (p0.0001). The prevalence of DM was not different among patients with HCV, HBV infection, or alcohol abuse. In group 3, the prevalence of DM appeared to increase steadily with age. On the contrary, in patients with liver cirrhosis (group 1) DM was detected in about 20-30% of cases in all decades of age. In group 2, diabetics were found only in the 7th and 8th decades of life. At multivariate analysis cirrhosis and age were the only two factors independently associated with DM; odds ratios were 12.5 (95% confidence interval [C.I.], 6.74-20.4) for cirrhosis, and 1.47 for age (95% C.I. 0.39-2.55).Our findings disprove HCV infection as a trigger factor for DM, which should not be listed among the various extrahepatic manifestations of this viral infection.

Summary. Background: Factor (F)V Leiden and the prothrombin 20210A mutation (PTm) are associated with the occurrence of obstetric complications, including pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism (VTE). It is not known whether family members of women with FV Leiden or PTm and previous obstetric complications have a higher risk of VTE or adverse obstetric outcomes. Methods: A retrospective family study including 563 relatives of 177 women with previous adverse outcomes carrying FV Leiden or PTm, referred between April 1993 and June 2010. A history of obstetric complications and VTE was obtained. Prevalence of VTE and obstetric complications in relatives with and without inherited thrombophilias was compared. Adjusted odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression models that controlled for predictors (age, FV Leiden and PTm). Results: Relatives carrying FV Leiden had a significant and independent risk for obstetric complications (OR: 1.98, 95% CI 1.03–3.83); this risk was not observed in the presence of PTm (OR: 1.03, 95% CI 0.46–2.32). The presence of FV Leiden or PTm in heterozygosis was significantly and independently associated with the occurrence of VTE (OR: 5.2, 95% CI: 1.70–15.91). Severe thrombophilias were strong risk factors for VTE (OR: 23.2, 95% CI: 6.0–89.85). Male gender was a significant and independent risk factor for VTE (OR: 3.49, 95% CI: 1.51–8.05). The risk did not change when relatives of women with a previous pregnancy-related VTE were excluded (OR: 3.49, 95% CI: 1.51–8.05). Conclusions: Knowledge of thrombophilia status may help to better define the obstetric and thromboembolic risks in asymptomatic family members of women who suffered from obstetric complications.

We compared frequencies of three common prothrombotic mutations (factor V Leiden, the G20210A mutation of the prothrombin gene, and homozygosity for C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) in 219 cirrhotic patients, 43 with and 176 without portal vein thrombosis (PVT). The following variables were related to PVT: prothrombin levels, platelet count, Child-Pugh classification, previous abdominal surgery, number of decompensation events, size of varices, red markers on varices, and sclerotherapy. All patients were followed up for a mean period of 18 months (range 10-30).Prothrombotic mutations were detected in 64 of the 219 cirrhotic patients (29.2%), at equal frequency in patients with or without PVT. At univariate analysis, PVT was associated with Child-Pugh classes B and C, signs of liver decompensation, large varices with red markings, sclerotherapy, and abdominal surgery. At multivariate analysis, PVT was associated with sclerotherapy [odds ratio (OR) 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-11] and previous surgery (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.2-6.3). The combination of the two acquired factors increased the risk of PVT, whereas the combination of local with genetic defects did not. Only a single patient with genetic thrombophilia and without PVT at inclusion developed the complication during follow-up, concomitantly with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.In cirrhotic patients prothrombotic mutations by themselves are not causative of PVT. Sclerotherapy and previous abdominal surgery favour the development of two-thirds of cases of PVT; in the remaining cases the pathogenesis remains elusive.

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicating cirrhosis has a high intrahepatic recurrence rate after treatment by surgical resection or percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI). In this study, certain clinical, biochemical, and pathologic parameters were evaluated as risk factors for intrahepatic tumor recurrence in liver segments different from that of the first neoplasm in a group of 57 cirrhotic patients with single HCC < 5 cm treated by PEI. METHODS After PEI treatment of HCC, the patients were followed for a mean period of 33 ± 16 months. The following pretreatment parameters were evaluated as predictors of tumor recurrence: age, gender, Child-Pugh score, hepatitis B virus surface antigen, hepatitis C virus antibodies, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level before PEI, alcohol abuse, HCC size, HCC ultrasound pattern, HCC histologic grade, HCC capsule, and time from cirrhosis diagnosis. Furthermore, the posttreatment parameters of the AFP level 1 month after PEI and recurrence of HCC in the same liver segment were also evaluated. RESULTS The cumulative 4-year intrahepatic recurrence rate of HCC was 62%. The log rank test indicated that, among pretreatment parameters, time from cirrhosis diagnosis >6 years (P = 0.05) and AFP level before PEI of >25 ng/mL (P = 0.00005) were significantly linked to tumor recurrence. Cox's proportional hazards model showed that only AFP level before PEI was independently associated with recurrence (P 13 ng/mL was shown to be significantly related to tumor recurrence by the log rank test (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Cirrhotic patients with single HCC treated by PEI who have slightly increased serum levels of AFP before and/or after PEI treatment are at increased risk of intrahepatic tumor recurrence and should undergo a close follow-up program. Cancer 1997; 79:1501-8. © 1997 American Cancer Society.

To evaluate the adequacy of ordinary antisepsis in ultrasound (US)-guided free-hand fine-needle puncture.Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (n = 573) were performed in 456 patients. No puncture attachments, sterile gloves, or drapes or covers were used. Before each procedure the transducer was cleaned with a solution of water and 70% alcohol. No needles were contaminated. Patients were monitored for 5 days to exclude sepsis. Subsequently, the patients underwent follow-up blood and laboratory testing, including testing for for hepatitis B and C markers and human immunodeficiency virus antibodies, every 3 months for 6 months. The operators underwent the same follow-up for the first 6 months and for an additional 6 months.No patient or operator presented with fever or sepsis or with negative viral or hepatitis markers that became positive during follow-up.Use of this free-hand US-guided technique with ordinary antisepsis is safe for patients and operators, and it allows savings in time and the cost of materials.