Soccorsa Sofia

Surveillance programme of cirrhotic patients for early diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a cost effectiveness analysis

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of death in cirrhotic patients. This neoplasm is associated with liver cirrhosis (LC) in more than 90% of cases. Early diagnosis and treatment of HCC are expected to improve survival of patients. AIMS To assess the cost effectiveness of a surveillance programme of patients with LC for the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC. PATIENTS A cohort of 313 Italian patients with LC were enrolled in the surveillance programme between March 1989 and November 1991. In the same period, 104 consecutive patients with incidentally detected HCC were referred to our centre and served as a control group. METHODS Surveillance was based on ultrasonography (US) and α fetoprotein (AFP) determinations repeated at six month intervals. Risk factors for HCC were assessed by multivariate analysis (Cox model). Outcome measures analysed were: (1) number and size of tumours; (2) eligibility for treatment; and (3) survival of patients. Economic issues were: (1) overall cost of surveillance programme; (2) cost per treatable HCC; and (3) cost per year of life saved (if any). Costs were assessed according to charges for procedures at our university hospital. RESULTS Surveillance lasted a mean of 56 (31) months (range 6–100). During the follow up, 61 patients (19.5%) developed HCC (unifocal at US in 49 cases), with an incidence of 4.1% per year of follow up. AFP, Child-Pugh classes B and C, and male sex were detected as independent risk factors for developing HCC. Only 42 (68.9%) of 61 liver tumours were treated by surgical resection, orthotopic liver transplantation, or local therapy. The cumulative survival rate of the 61 patients with liver tumours detected in the surveillance programme was significantly longer than that of controls (p=0.02) and multivariate analysis showed an association between surveillance and survival. The overall cost of the surveillance programme was US

High Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in Liver Cirrhosis (Relationship with Clinical and Endoscopic Features and the Risk of Peptic Ulcer)

753 226, the cost per treatable HCC was US

The relationship of endoscopy, portal Doppler ultrasound flowmetry, and clinical and biochemical tests in cirrhosis.

17 934, and the cost for year of life saved was US

Sonographic findings in abdominal hereditary angioedema

112 993. CONCLUSION Our surveillance policy of patients with LC requires a large number of resources and offers little benefit in terms of patient survival. The decision whether to adopt a surveillance policy towards HCC should rely on the prevalence of the disease in the population and on the resources of a particular country.

Sonographic diagnosis of adult intussusception

In 153 consecutive patients with cirrhosis weassessed: (1) the prevalence of IgG to Helicobacterpylori and compared it with that found in 1010 blooddonors resident in the same area; and (2) therelationships of IgG to Helicobacter pylori with clinical andendoscopic features and with the risk of peptic ulcer.The IgG to Helicobacter pylori prevalence of cirrhoticswas significantly higher than in blood donors (76.5% vs 41.8%; P < 0.0005) and was notassociated with sex, cirrhosis etiology, Child class,gammaglobulins and hypertensive gastropathy. In bothgroups, the prevalence of IgG to Helicobacter pylori was significantly higher in subjects over 40. Amongpatients with cirrhosis a significantly higherprevalence of Helicobacter pylori was found in patientswith previous hospital admission (P = 0.02) and/or upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (P = 0.01) andpatients with peptic ulcer (P = 0.0004). Multivariateanalysis identified increasing age and male sex as riskfactors for a positive Helicobacter pylori serology and no independent risk factors for pepticulcer. The high prevalence of Helicobacterpylori-positive serology found in the present series isrelated to age and sex and might also be explained byprevious hospital admissions and/or uppergastrointestinal endoscopy. Our results do not confirmthe role of Helicobacter pylori as risk factor forpeptic ulcer in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Circadian occurrence of variceal bleeding in patients with liver cirrhosis

The relationship of the endoscopic aspect of esophageal varices, portal quantitative Doppler ultrasound parameters and clinical and biochemical findings was assessed in 149 patients with cirrhosis stratified according to the presence of esophageal varices (n = 115) and the absence of previous bleeding (n = 96). In this series of patients the presence of esophageal varices and red signs proved to be significantly correlated with the severity of cirrhosis. However, in the group of patients with varices, no correlation was found between variceal size and the degree of liver failure. Portal blood flow velocity was significantly different in the endoscopic subgroups, but not in the clinical and biochemical subgroups. Furthermore, portal blood flow velocity was found to correlate only with the presence and size of esophageal varices. The Congestion Index of the portal vein (derived from the ratio between the cross-sectional area of the portal vein and the mean velocity of portal flow) was significantly different in most clinical, biochemical and endoscopic subgroups and was correlated with liver function, presence and size of varices, and presence and degree of red signs. We conclude that the Congestion Index of the portal vein, the clinical status and the endoscopic aspect of varices are not independent features in patients with cirrhosis. As for liver function and endoscopic findings, portal Doppler ultrasound parameters, in particular the Congestion Index, may contribute to a better clinical assessment in patients with cirrhosis.

Influence of esophageal varices and spontaneous portal-systemic shunts on postprandial splanchnic hemodynamics

Patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) may suffer from abdominal pain severe enough to prompt unnecessary surgical intervention. The diagnostic approach to abdominal pain during HAE attacks is not established. We describe abdominal sonographic findings during severe colic in 2 patients with known HAE. Sonography demonstrated marked mucosal thickening and edema of the bowel wall with a variable amount of free peritoneal fluid. These findings are not specific but are consistent with the hypothesized mechanism of attack and resolve after therapy. Abdominal sonography is useful for evaluating acute abdominal pain in patients with known HAE to prevent unnecessary surgery. Conversely, if the described sonographic findings appear in a case of abdominal colic of unknown origin, HAE should be included in the differential diagnosis.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF INTRAHEPATIC BILE DUCT COMPONENT IN NORMAL ADULT HUMAN LIVER AND IN PRIMARY BILIARY CIRRHOSIS

We describe three cases of adult intussusception in which ultrasonography provided the correct preoperative diagnosis. Patients underwent ultrasonography to investigate nonspecific acute abdominal pain; intussusception was not suspected. In all cases, the sonographic pattern was typical of intussusception and ultrasonography was the only diagnostic study. Bowel ischemia was not found at surgery in any patient.

Timing of the first variceal hemorrhage in cirrhotic patients: Prospective evaluation of doppler flowmetry, endoscopy and clinical parameters

Abstract  Several clinical events have a rhythmicity over the 24 h period. We assessed the presence of periodic rhythm in the occurrence of haematemesis in patients with liver cirrhosis under different daylight regimens, namely during standard time and during daylight savings. Over a 48 month period there were 212 consecutive admissions of 118 cirrhotics with variceal bleeding. Complete data were available for 181 episodes of bleeding: 121 (66.9%) started with haematemesis and 60 (33.1%) started with melaena. One hundred and two (56%) episodes occurred during daylight savings and 79 (44%) occurred during standard time. The cosinor test showed a 24 h biphasic peak for the occurrence of haematemesis (09.45 and 21.45 h). Moreover, a biphasic diurnal asymmetric frequency was also found by multiple component rhythmometry. The time peaks of onset of variceal haemorrhage did not change significantly during standard time and daylight savings. Patients with more than one haematemesis episode significantly bled over the same time interval. The present study confirms that over the 24 h period variceal bleeding in cirrhotic patients occurs with a predictable rhythmicity that does not seem to be under the control of the light‐dark cycle. The finding of a chronorisk for variceal haemorrhage addresses specific questions for pathophysiological studies as well as for new treatment strategies.

Sonographic assessment of the distal end of the thoracic duct in healthy volunteers and in patients with portal hypertension.

OBJECTIVE:The aim of the study was to assess postprandial splanchnic hemodynamic changes in cirrhosis in relation to variceal status.METHODS:In 9 healthy controls and 56 patients with liver cirrhosis, stratified according to variceal status and presence of spontaneous portal-systemic shunts, the portal vein diameter and flow velocity, the congestion index of the portal vein, and the resistive index of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA-RI) were studied by Doppler ultrasound before and 30, 60, and 120 min after the intake of a standard meal. Comparison of postprandial parameters with basal ones was done within each group by paired t test and among groups by ANOVA and Duncan test.RESULTS:Healthy controls and cirrhotic patients without varices showed similar significant splanchnic hemodynamic changes, namely a reduction of SMA-RI (−13% at 30 min) and a consequent increase in portal vein diameter (respectively, + 32% and + 17% in the two groups) and velocity (+66% and + 51%). A significant reduction of SMA-RI was also found in patients with varices, irrespective of the variceal size (range, −7 to −11%), but the expected portal vein dilation and velocity increase were progressively blunted with the increase of variceal size (range, 0–5% for diameter and 5–19% for velocity). Patients with spontaneous portal-systemic shunts showed a response similar to that of patients with large varices. Significant modification of the congestion index of the portal vein did not occur in any group.CONCLUSIONS:Our results show that the hemodynamic response to meal in patients with liver cirrhosis is influenced by the presence and size of esophageal varices and the presence of spontaneous portal-systemic shunts.