| 1. |
- Mathiesen, UL, et al.
(författare)
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Increased liver echogenicity at ultrasound examination reflects degree of steatosis but not of fibrosis in asymptomatic patients with mild/moderate abnormalities of liver transaminases
- 2002
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Ingår i: Digestive and Liver Disease. - 1590-8658 .- 1878-3562. ; 34:7, s. 516-522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. To investigate whether hyperechogenicity of liver can reliably be interpreted as liver steatosis and if any concomitant or isolated fibrosis can be disclosed. Patients and methods. A series of 165 patients with no signs or symptoms of liver disease referred because of slightly to moderately raised aminotransferases (alanine aminotransferase and/or aspartate aminotransferase 0.7-5.0 ╡kat/l) for more than 6 months were prospectively investigated with a comprehensive laboratory profile, ultrasound examination of liver and percutaneous liver biopsy. Fibrosis was assessed quantitatively and according to Metavir. Steatosis was graded as none, mild, moderate or severe. Results. Of 98 (59.4%) patients with raised echogenicity, 85 (86.7%) had liver steatosis of at least moderate degree, 9 patients with same degree of steatosis had normal echogenicity and 13 patients with no or only mild steatosis had normal echogenicity liver (sensitivity 0.90, specificity 0.82, positive predictive value 0.87, negative predictive value 0.87). About the same relations were found regardless of body mass index and degree of fibrosis. With increased echogenicity together with high attenuation (n=59) and reduced portal vessel wall distinction (n=79), positive predictive value increased to 0.93 and 0.94, respectively. Quantitatively assessed fibrosis (mean ▒ SD) was 3.2▒4.6% of biopsy area with normal and 2.3▒1.8% with raised echogenicity [ns]. Echogenicity was normal in 5 out of 9 patients with septal fibrosis and in 4 out of 6 patients with cirrhosis. Any structural, non-homogenous findings at ultrasound were not associated with architectural fibrotic changes and none had nodular contours of liver surface. Conclusions. Assessment of liver echogenicity is of value for detection or exclusion of moderate to pronounced fatty infiltration (correct classification 86.6%) but cannot be relied upon in diagnosing fibrosis, not even cirrhosis in asymptomatic patients with mild to moderately elevated liver transaminases.
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| 3. |
- Almer, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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6-Thioguanine therapy in Crohns disease-Observational data in Swedish patients
- 2009
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Ingår i: Digestive and Liver Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 1590-8658 .- 1878-3562. ; 41:3, s. 194-200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aims: Adverse events (AE) leading to discontinuation or dose-reduction of thiopurine therapy (TP) occur in 9-28% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. 6-Thioguanine (6-TG) has been proposed as an alternative treatment in patients intolerant for azathioprine (AZA), but some concerns have been raised about drug safety. Methods: We evaluated in a prospective manner the tolerance and efficacy of 6-TG in 23 Crohns disease (CD) patients (13 men, median age 41 (19-65) years) with prior intolerance (n = 18) or resistance (It = 5) to AZA and/or 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP). In addition, eight patients had tried mycophenolate mofetil. Seventeen patients (74%) had undergone intestinal resection, often several times. Results: Patients were treated with a median daily dose of 40 mg 6-TG (range 20-60) for 259 (15-2272) days. Seven of 13 patients (54%) with active disease went into remission after 8 (4-26) weeks. Sixteen patients (70%) experienced AE that lead to discontinuation (n=10) after 85 (15-451) days or dose reduction (n=6) after 78 (10-853) days. Ten of 18 patients (56%) with prior TP-intolerance discontinued 6-TG treatment due to AE compared to none of five patients with TP-resistance (p=0.046). Of 13 patients that tolerated 6-TG, eight discontinued the drug due to therapeutic failure (n=5) or safety concerns (n=3). Eight patients (35%) continued treatment beyond 12 months. There was no significant difference in maximum thioguanine nucleotide levels between patients with AE leading to discontinuation/dose reduction and patients without AE, 652 (99-2488) vs. 551 (392-1574) pmol/8 x 10(8) RBC; p=0.80. Conclusions: In this cohort of CD patients with severe disease failing traditional thiopurine treatment, a small fraction (22%) had long-term benefit of 6-TG-treatment. 6-TG therapy seems to offer a limited therapeutic gain for patients intolerant to both AZA and 6-MP and other treatment options should be considered.
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| 6. |
- Canova, Cristina, et al.
(författare)
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Risk of bacterial pneumonia and pneumococcal infection in youths with celiac disease : A population-based study
- 2019
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Ingår i: Digestive and Liver Disease. - : Elsevier. - 1590-8658 .- 1878-3562. ; 51:8, s. 1101-1105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Assess the risk of hospitalizations for bacterial pneumonia or pneumococcal infections, in a cohort of young individuals with celiac disease (CD) compared to matched references.Study design: The cohort consists of 213,635 individuals, born in 1989-2012 and resident in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy). Through pathology reports, hospital discharge records or co-payment exemptions, we identified 1294 CD patients and 6470 reference individuals matched by gender and birth year. We considered hospital admissions for first episodes of bacterial pneumonia and pneumococcal infections. Hazard ratios (HRs) for episodes after CD diagnosis were calculated with Cox regression and odds ratios (OR) for the ones before CD diagnosis with conditional logistic regression. Further analyses were performed on unvaccinated follow-up periods.Results: 14 CD patients (in 9450 person-years) and 42 references (in 48,335 person-years) experienced a first episode of bacterial pneumonia, with an increased risk among CD patients (HR 1.82; 95% CI 0.98-3.35). Risks of bacterial pneumonia were significantly increased before CD diagnosis and especially the year before CD diagnosis (OR 6.00, 95% CI 1.83-19.66). Risks of pneumococcal infections showed a non-significant increase in CD patients.Conclusions: CD children and youth showed an increased risk of bacterial pneumonia, especially in proximity to CD diagnosis. Anti-pneumococcal vaccination should be recommended to all young CD patients. (C) 2019 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 8. |
- Crippa, Stefano, et al.
(författare)
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A tug-of-war in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms management : Comparison between 2017 International and 2018 European guidelines
- 2021
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Ingår i: Digestive and Liver Disease. - : Elsevier. - 1590-8658 .- 1878-3562. ; 53:8, s. 998-1003
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: 2017 International and 2018 European guidelines are the most recent guidelines for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms management.AIM: to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these guidelines in identifying malignant IPMN.METHODS: data from resected patients with IPMN were collected in two referral centers. Features of risk associated to cancerous degeneration described in International and European guidelines were retrospectively applied. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value in detecting malignant disease were calculated.RESULTS: the study includes 627 resected patients. European guidelines suggest resection in any patient with at least one feature of moderate-risk. International guidelines suggest that patients with moderate-risk features undergo endoscopic ultrasound before surgery. European guidelines had a higher sensitivity (99.2% vs. 83%) but a lower positive predictive value (59.5% vs. 65.8%) and Specificity (2% vs. 37.5%). European guidelines detected almost all malignancies, but 40% of resected patients had low-grade dysplasia. 297 patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound before surgery. 31/116 (26.7%) tumors radiologically classified as "worrisome features" were reclassified as "high-risk stigmata" by endoscopic ultrasound and 24/31 were malignant IPMN.CONCLUSIONS: European and International guidelines have a relatively low diagnostic accuracy, being European guidelines more aggressive. Endoscopic ultrasound can improve guidelines accuracy in patients with moderate-risk features.
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| 9. |
- Del Chiaro, M, et al.
(författare)
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European experts consensus statement on cystic tumours of the pancreas
- 2013
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Ingår i: Digestive and liver disease : official journal of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-3562. ; 45:9, s. 703-711
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 10. |
- Emilsson, Louise, et al.
(författare)
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Cardiovascular disease in patients with coeliac disease : A systematic review and meta-analysis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Digestive and Liver Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 1590-8658 .- 1878-3562. ; 47:10, s. 847-852
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Coeliac disease has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in some studies, whereas other studies have shown no association. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of cardiovascular disease in celiac disease. Methods: Pubmed, Cinahl, EMBASE and Medline via Ovid were searched for relevant articles published until January 5, 2015. English-language articles on studies with more than 20 patients were included, and were quality rated using the GRADE risk of bias tool. We used random-effects models and assessed heterogeneity using the I-2 statistic. Results: Ten studies were relevant, reporting the risk of myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death and stroke in 33,128/32,903/32,466 coeliac disease patients respectively. Only one study examined celiac disease and a composite measure of cardiovascular disease and this study found a hazard ratio of 1.10 (95% CI 1.03-1.28). In a meta-analysis, we observed an increased risk of stroke (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02-1.20). The risks of myocardial infarction (OR 1.12; 95% CI 0.83-1.40) and cardiovascular death (OR 1.12; 95% CI 0.96-1.29) were similar but were estimated with less certainty. Heterogeneity was low for all outcomes except for myocardial infarction where it was moderate. Conclusion: Coeliac disease was associated with a modestly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but the evidence base is limited.
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