A combined model was developed using contrast-enhanced CT-based radiomics features and clinical characteristics to predict liver fibrosis stages in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). We retrospectively analyzed multiphase CT scans and biopsy-confirmed liver fibrosis. 160 CLD patients were randomly divided into 7:3 training/validation ratio. Clinical laboratory indicators associated with liver fibrosis were identified using Spearman\'s correlation and multivariate logistic regression correlation. Radiomic features were extracted after segmenting the entire liver from multiphase CT images. Feature dimensionality reduction was performed using RF-RFE, LASSO, and mRMR methods. Six radiomics-based models were developed in the training cohort of 112 patients. Internal validation was conducted on 48 randomly assigned patients. Receptor Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and confusion matrices were constructed to evaluate model performance. The radiomics model exhibited robust performance, with AUC values of 0.810 to 1.000 for significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis. The integrated clinical-radiomics model had superior diagnostic efficacy in the validation cohort, with AUC values of 0.836 to 0.997. Moreover, these models outperformed established biomarkers such as the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and the fibrosis 4 score (FIB-4), as well as the gamma glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR), in predicting the fibrotic stages. The clinical-radiomics model holds considerable promise as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for the assessment and staging of liver fibrosis in the patients with CLD, potentially leading to better patient management and outcomes.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted special populations, including immunocompromised individuals, people living with HIV (PLWHIV), pediatric patients, and those with chronic liver disease (CLD). This scoping review aims to map the clinical outcomes of these vulnerable groups when infected with various SARS-CoV-2 variants. The review identifies trends and patterns, noting that early variants, such as Alpha and Delta, are associated with more severe outcomes, including higher hospitalization and mortality rates. In contrast, the Omicron variant, despite its increased transmissibility, tends to cause milder clinical manifestations. The review highlights the necessity for ongoing surveillance and tailored healthcare interventions due to the heterogeneity of patient populations and the evolving nature of the virus. Continuous monitoring and adaptive healthcare strategies are essential to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on these high-risk groups.

Alteration in the gut microbiome in human patients with chronic liver disease is a well-known pathophysiological mechanism. Therefore, it represents both a diagnostic and therapeutical target. Intestinal dysbiosis has also been identified in dogs with chronic liver disease, but clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of synbiotic administration are lacking. Thirty-two dogs with chronic hepatobiliary disease were equally randomized into two groups: one treated with a synbiotic complex for 4-6 weeks (TG) and one untreated control group (CG). All dogs underwent clinical evaluation, complete anamnesis, bloodwork, abdominal ultrasound, fecal bile acids, and gut microbiome evaluation at T0-T1 (after 4-6 weeks). Treated dogs showed a significant reduction in ALT activity (p = 0.007) and clinical resolution of gastrointestinal signs (p = 0.026) compared to control dogs. The synbiotic treatment resulted in a lower increase in Enterobacteriaceae and Lachnospiraceae compared to the control group but did not affect the overall richness and number of bacterial species. No significant changes in fecal bile acids profile were detected with synbiotic administration. Further studies are needed to better evaluate the effectiveness of synbiotic administration in these patients and the metabolic pathways involved in determining the clinical and biochemical improvement.

Identifying hepatic fibrosis is paramount in managing patients with chronic liver disease. The etiology of liver disease can be owing to many factors, including chronic viral hepatitis, steatotic liver diseases such as alcohol-associated liver disease or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, and cholestatic liver diseases. Currently, invasive liver biopsy with histopathologic evaluation is the gold standard; however, noninvasive tests are becoming more prevalent, especially because they do not carry the risks of invasive procedures such as biopsy. This article reviews noninvasive tests for fibrosis, separating them into blood-based and imaging-based tests.

Background: Early detection of progressive liver damage in chronic liver disease (CLD) patients is crucial for better treatment response. Several studies have shown the association of microRNA (miRNA) in the progression of CLD in regulating cell proliferation, fibrosis, and apoptosis as well as in carcinogenesis. Objectives: The study was aimed at determining the expression of miRNA-221 among different stages of fibrosis in CLD patients due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and thus evaluate its role as an early biomarker in CLD. Methods: A total of 100 participants (75 CLD patients and 25 healthy control) were recruited in this cross-sectional study and divided into four groups, of which 25 as healthy control, 25 in CLD without fibrosis, 25 were CLD with fibrosis, and 25 were CLD with cirrhosis. Total RNA was extracted from plasma followed by cDNA synthesis, and finally, the expression of miRNA-221 was analyzed for its diagnostic potential as a single biomarker using the qRT-PCR method. Results: The plasma level of miRNA-221 was significantly upregulated in different fibrosis stages of CLD (p < 0.05), and this upregulation was positively correlated with the progression of fibrosis (p < 0.05). Significantly increased expression of miRNA-221 was found in NAFLD patients compared to HBV patients in the CLD without fibrosis patient group (p < 0.05), while expression of miRNA-221 was significantly upregulated among HBV patients in the CLD with the fibrosis group. miRNA-221 showed high diagnostic accuracy in discriminating different stages of fibrosis from healthy control (p < 0.05). Conclusion: miRNA-221 may be used as a potential plasma biomarker for early prediction of fibrosis progression in CLD patients.

Abdominal paracentesis is a common procedure performed for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in patients with chronic liver disease and ascites. This review aims to provide an overview of the current evidence on the risk of bleeding associated with abdominal paracentesis. Electronic search was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Ovid EMBASE from inception to 29 October 2023. Studies were included if they examined the risk of bleeding post-abdominal paracentesis or the efficacy of interventions to reduce bleeding in patients with chronic liver disease. Random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled proportions of bleeding events following abdominal paracentesis. Heterogeneity was determined by I 2, τ2 statistics, and P-value. Eight studies were included for review. Six studies reported incident events of post-abdominal paracentesis bleeding. Pooled proportion of bleeding events following abdominal paracentesis was 0.32% (95% CI: 0.15-0.69%). The mean values for pre-procedural INR and platelet count of patients in these studies ranged between 1.4 and 2.0, and 50 and 153 × 109/L, respectively. The highest recorded INR was 8.7, and the lowest platelet count was 19 × 109/L. Major bleeding after abdominal paracentesis occurred in 0-0.97% of the study cohorts. Two studies demonstrated that the use of thromboelastography (TEG) before paracentesis in patients with chronic liver disease identified those at risk of procedure-related bleeding and reduced transfusion requirements. The overall risk of major bleeding after abdominal paracentesis is low in patients with chronic liver disease and coagulopathy. TEG may be used to predict bleeding risk and guide transfusion requirements.

UNASSIGNED: Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease. Nowadays, the prevalence of MAFLD in Mexico is unknown with no screening point-of-care tools. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of MAFLD in Mexico and to develop a score for MAFLD screening.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 5 Mexican states, including adult subjects evaluated in checkup campaigns. Subjects underwent a liver ultrasound to look for hepatic steatosis. Based on the most clinically relevant variables associated with MAFLD, we developed the MAFLD-screening score (MAFLD-S). Discrimination and calibration of the score were evaluated using the area under the ROC curve and observed vs predicted plots, respectively.
UNASSIGNED: We included 3357 participants (60% female, mean age 47 ± 12 years). Fifty-two percent had hepatic steatosis, and 47% met MAFLD criteria. Subjects with MAFLD were older (48 ± 11 vs 45 ± 13 years, P < .001), were more frequently males (43% vs 36%, P < .001), and had a higher body mass index (31.6 + 4.9 vs 25.6 + 3.8 kg/m2, P < .001) than subjects without MAFLD. The MAFLD-S includes age, body mass index, gender, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia and has an area under the curve of 0.852, 95% CI = 0.828-0.877, with a sensitivity of 78.8% and a specificity of 82.8% for the optimal cutoff. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2018-2019, we predicted a MAFLD national prevalence of 49.6%.
UNASSIGNED: Nearly half of the Mexican population has MAFLD, representing a present and future challenge. With external validation, the MAFLD-S could be a valuable and practical screening tool.

Objectives: Congestive hepatopathy is a significant complication for children suffering from right-sided heart disease (RHD). We hypothesize that hospitalized pediatric patients with ascites will have congestive hepatopathy leading to advanced liver disease if their cardiac condition is RHD versus non-right-sided heart disease (NRHD). Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients who presented with an ascites diagnosis (ICD-10 R18) and at least one cardiac diagnosis. Patient demographics, past medical history, laboratory values, imaging results, calculated clinical scores (e.g., APRI, FIB-4), treatment, length of stay (LOS), and death at hospital discharge were analyzed. Results: Of the 136 patients with ascites, 21 patients presented with a primary cardiac disease (12 in RHD and 9 in NRHD). Of these patients, eight (38%) were female, and nine (43%) were White, seven (33%) were Black, and five (24%) were unknown. The RHD group had a mean age of 5.1 Y (vs. 9.5 Y in NRHD). The mean APRI score in RHD patients was 2.87, and it was 0.85 in NRDH. Treatments were similar, with most patients requiring diuretics (11 RHD (92%) vs. 8 NRDH (89%)); 5 RHD (42%) vs. 4 NRDH (44%) required inotropic support. RHD patients had a longer LOS, with an average of 92 days vs. 52 days for NRDH patients. Overall, each group had one death at discharge (8% RHD vs. 11% NRDH). Conclusions: In the realm of children with ascites, the subset grappling with congestive heart disease paints a unique picture. In this context, ascites stands as an elusive predictor of liver decompensation, defying conventional diagnostic pathways.

UNASSIGNED: Abnormal liver biochemistry (ALB) is common among patients with COVID-19 infection due to various factors. It is uncertain if it persists after the acute infection. We aimed to investigate this.
UNASSIGNED: A multicenter study of adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, with at least a single abnormal liver function test, was conducted. Detailed laboratory and imaging tests, including transabdominal ultrasound and FibroScan, were performed at assessment and at 6-month follow-up after hospital discharge.
UNASSIGNED: From an initial cohort of 1246 patients who were hospitalized, 731 (58.7%) had ALB. A total of 174/731 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria with the following characteristics: 48.9% patients had severe COVID-19; 62.1% had chronic liver disease (CLD); and 56.9% had metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). ALB was predominantly of a mixed pattern (67.8%). Among those (55.2%) who had liver injury (aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase >3 times the upper limit of normal, or alkaline phosphatase/γ-glutamyl transferase/bilirubin >2 times the upper limit of normal), a mixed pattern was similarly predominant. Approximately 52.3% had normalization of the liver lunction test in the 6-month period post discharge. Patients with persistent ALB had significantly higher mean body mass index (BMI) and serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL), higher rates of MAFLD and CLD, higher mean liver stiffness measurement and continuous attenuated parameter score on FibroScan, and higher rates of liver injury on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was not statistically significant.
UNASSIGNED: Approximately 47.7% of COVID-19 patients were found to have persistent ALB up to 6 months following the acute infection, and it was associated with raised BMI, elevated serum LDL, increased rates of MAFLD and CLD, and higher rates of liver injury on univariate analysis, but not on multivariate analysis.

Introduction Chronic liver disease progression leads to liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Transient Elastography is used for staging liver fibrosis but ascites, obesity, and operator experience limit its applicability. In this study, we compared various non-invasive serum indices in predicting fibrosis in chronic liver disease patients. Materials and methods A total of 142 cases of confirmed Chronic Liver Disease were included. Quantitative determination of liver stiffness by Transient Elastography and relevant blood investigations was done. We compared the liver stiffness measurement by Transient Elastography and fibrosis indices, i.e., Aspartate Transaminase (AST) to Alanine Transaminase (ALT) Ratio (AAR), AST to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI), Fibrosis Index (FI), Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) Index, Age-Platelet Index (API), Pohl score, and Fibrosis Cirrhosis Index (FCI) with Novel Fibrosis Index (NFI), to predict liver fibrosis stages. Results The optimum cutoff of NFI for the F4 stage was ≥ 6670 with a sensitivity of 75.8% and specificity of 81.8%, for the F3 stage was ≥ 2112 with a sensitivity of 63.6% and specificity of 72.7%, and for the F2 stage was ≥ 1334 with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 56.3%. The NFI had the maximum area under the curve compared to other indices in predicting fibrosis stages. Conclusion The Novel Fibrosis Index was the best in predicting fibrosis stages in Chronic Liver Disease patients, with good performance in predicting the F4 stage.