Ujjwal Sonika

Acute‐on‐chronic liver failure in India: The Indian National Association for Study of the Liver consortium experience

The aim of this study was to analyze etiologies and frequency of hepatic and extrahepatic organ failures (OFs) and outcome of acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) at 10 tertiary centers in India.

Acute on chronic liver failure in India: the INASL Consortium experience.

The aim of this study was to analyze etiologies and frequency of hepatic and extrahepatic organ failures (OFs) and outcome of acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) at 10 tertiary centers in India.

Predictors of infection in viral-hepatitis related acute liver failure

Abstract Objective: Infections are common and associated with complications and mortality in acute liver failure (ALF). The temporal relationship between ammonia and infection in ALF patients is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the predictors of infection and its relationship with arterial ammonia levels. Materials and methods: Consecutive ALF patients hospitalized between January 2004 and December 2015, without signs of infection at/within 48 h of admission, were included. Occurrence of infection after 48 h was documented and ammonia levels were estimated for five consecutive days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with development of infection. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to evaluate five-day time trend of ammonia in patients with and without infection. Results: Of 540 consecutive patients, 120 were infected at admission/within 48 h and were excluded. Of the rest 420 patients, 144 (34.3%) developed infection after 48 h and 276 (65.7%) remained non-infected. Infected patients had higher mortality than non-infected patients (61.8% vs 40.0%, p < .001). On multivariate analysis, presence of cerebral edema(HR 2.049; 95%CI, 1.30–3.23), ammonia level on day 3 of admission (HR 1.006; 95%CI, 1.003–1.008), and model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score (HR 1.051; 95%CI, 1.026–1.078) were associated with development of infection. GEE showed group difference in serial ammonia values between infected and non-infected patients indicating lack of ammonia decline in infected patients. Conclusions: Cerebral edema, elevated ammonia on day 3, and higher MELD score predict the development of infection in ALF. Ammonia persists at high levels in infected patients, and elevated ammonia on day 3 is associated with complications and death.

Predictive factors for malignancy in undiagnosed isolated small bowel strictures

Background/Aims Patients with small bowel strictures have varied etiologies, including malignancy. Little data are available on the demographic profiles and etiologies of small bowel strictures in patients who undergo surgery because of intestinal obstruction but do not have a definitive pre-operative diagnosis. Methods Retrospective data were analyzed for all patients operated between January 2000 and October 2014 for small bowel strictures without mass lesions and a definite diagnosis after imaging and endoscopic examinations. Demographic parameters, imaging, endoscopic, and histological data were extracted from the medical records. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify factors that could differentiate between intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) and Crohns disease (CD) and between malignant and benign strictures. Results Of the 7,425 reviewed medical records, 89 met the inclusion criteria. The most common site of strictures was the proximal small intestine (41.5%). The most common histological diagnoses in patients with small bowel strictures were ITB (26.9%), CD (23.5%), non-specific strictures (20.2%), malignancy (15.5%), ischemia (10.1%), and other complications (3.4%). Patients with malignant strictures were older than patients with benign etiologies (47.6±15.9 years vs. 37.4±16.4 years, P=0.03) and age >50 years had a specificity for malignant etiology of 80%. Only 7.1% of the patients with malignant strictures had more than 1 stricture and 64% had proximally located strictures. Diarrhea was the only factor that predicted the diagnosis of CD 6.5 (95% confidence interval, 1.10–38.25; P=0.038) compared with the diagnosis of ITB. Conclusions Malignancy was the cause of small bowel strictures in approximately 16% patients, especially among older patients with a single stricture in the proximal location. Empirical therapy should be avoided and the threshold for surgical resection is low in these patients.

Alcohol-related acute-on-chronic liver failure—Comparison of various prognostic scores in predicting outcome

Background and AimsVarious prognostic scores are available for predicting outcome in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). We compared the available prognostic models as predictors of outcome in alcohol-related ACLF patients.MethodsAll consecutive patients with alcohol-related ACLF were included. At admission, prognostic indices-acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score (APACHE II), model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), MELD-Na, Maddrey’s discriminant function (DF), age-bilirubin-INR-creatinine (ABIC), and Chronic Liver Failure Consortium (CLIF-C) ACLF score (CLIF-C ACLF) score were calculated. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for all prognostic scores with in-hospital, 90-day, and 1-year mortality as outcome.ResultsOf the 171 patients, 170 were males, and grade 1 ACLF in 20 (11.7%), grade 2 in 52 (30.4%), and grade 3 in 99 (57.9%) patients. One hundred and nineteen (69.6%) died in-hospital. The median (IQR) Maddrey’s score, MELD, MELD-Na, ABIC, APACHE II, and CLIF-C ACLF were 87.8 (66.5–123.0), 33.1 (27.6–40.0), 34.4 (29.5–40.0), 8.5 (7.3–9.6), 15 (12–21), and 51.1 (44.1–56.4), respectively. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, independent predictors of in-hospital outcome were presence of hepatic encephalopathy (early HR, 2.078; 95%CI, 1.173–3.682, p = 0.012 and advanced, HR, 2.330; 95% CI, 1.270–4.276, p = 0.006), elevated serum creatinine (HR, 1.140; 95% CI, 1.023–1.270, p = 0.018), and infection at admission (HR, 1.874; 95% CI, 1.160–23.029, p = 0.010). On comparison of ROC curves, APACHE II and CLIF-C ACLF AUROC were significantly higher than MELD, MELD-Na, DF, and ABIC (p < 0.05) for predicting in-hospital, 90-day, and 1-year mortality. The AUROC was highest for APACHE II followed by CLIF-C ACLF (Hanley and McNeil, p = 0.660).ConclusionsAlcohol-related ACLF has high in-hospital mortality. Among the available prognostic scores, CLIF-C ACLF and APACHE II perform best.

Comparison of Dynamic Changes Among Various Prognostic Scores in Viral Hepatitis-Related Acute Liver Failure

INTRODUCTION AND AIM Multiple prognostic scores are available for acute liver failure (ALF). Our objective was to compare the dynamicity of model for end stage liver disease (MELD), MELD-sodium, acute liver failure early dynamic model (ALFED), chronic liver failure (CLIF)-consortium ACLF score and Kings College Hospital Criteria (KCH) for predicting outcome in ALF. MATERIALS AND METHODS All consecutive patients with ALF at a tertiary care centre in India were included. MELD, MELD-Na, ALFED, CLIF-C ACLF scores and KCH criteria were calculated at admission and day 3 of admission. Area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROC) were compared with DeLong method. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio (LR) and diagnostic accuracy (DA) were reported. RESULTS Of the 115 patients included in the study, 73 (63.5%) died. The discrimination of mortality with baseline values of prognostic scores (MELD, MELD-Na, ALFED, CLIF-C ACLF and KCH) was modest (AUROC: 0.65-0.77). The AUROC increased on day 3 for all scores, except KCH criteria. On day 3 of admission, ALFED score had the highest AUROC 0.95, followed by CLIF-C ACLF 0.88, MELD 0.81, MELD-Na 0.77 and KCH 0.52. The AUROC for ALFED was significantly higher than MELD, MELD-Na and KCH (P < 0.001 for all) and CLIF-C ACLF (P = 0.05). ALFED score ≥ 4 on day 3 had the best sensitivity (87.1%), specificity (89.5%), PPV (93.8%), NPV (79.1%), LR positive (8.3) and DA (87.9%) for predicting mortality. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic assessment of prognostic scores better predicts outcome. ALFED model performs better than MELD, MELD, MELD-Na, CLIF-C ACLF scores and KCH criteria for predicting outcome in viral hepatitis- related ALF.INTRODUCTION AND AIM Multiple prognostic scores are available for acute liver failure (ALF). Our objective was to compare the dynamicity of model for end stage liver disease (MELD), MELD-sodium, acute liver failure early dynamic model (ALFED), chronic liver failure (CLIF)-consortium ACLF score and Kings College Hospital Criteria (KCH) for predicting outcome in ALF. MATERIALS AND METHODS All consecutive patients with ALF at a tertiary care centre in India were included. MELD, MELD-Na, ALFED, CLIF-C ACLF scores and KCH criteria were calculated at admission and day 3 of admission. Area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROC) were compared with DeLong method. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio (LR) and diagnostic accuracy (DA) were reported. RESULTS Of the 115 patients included in the study, 73 (63.5%) died. The discrimination of mortality with baseline values of prognostic scores (MELD, MELD-Na, ALFED, CLIF-C ACLF and KCH) was modest (AUROC: 0.65-0.77). The AUROC increased on day 3 for all scores, except KCH criteria. On day 3 of admission, ALFED score had the highest AUROC 0.95, followed by CLIF-C ACLF 0.88, MELD 0.81, MELD-Na 0.77 and KCH 0.52. The AUROC for ALFED was significantly higher than MELD, MELD-Na and KCH (P < 0.001 for all) and CLIF-C ACLF (P = 0.05). ALFED score > 4 on day 3 had the best sensitivity (87.1%), specificity (89.5%), PPV (93.8%), NPV (79.1%), LR positive (8.3) and DA (87.9%) for predicting mortality. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic assessment of prognostic scores better predicts outcome. ALFED model performs better than MELD, MELD, MELD-Na, CLIF-C ACLF scores and KCH criteria for predicting outcome in viral hepatitis-related ALF.

Intestinal Fatty Acid Binding Protein and Citrulline as Markers of Gut Injury and Prognosis in Patients With Acute Pancreatitis

Objectives Severe acute pancreatitis (AP) is associated with high mortality due to systemic inflammatory response syndrome in the early phase and secondary infection in the later phase. Concomitant intestinal ischemia often results in gut injury. We studied intestinal fatty acid binding protein (IFABP) and citrulline levels as markers of gut injury to predict prognosis in AP. Methods Acute pancreatitis patients at admission and controls were studied. Serum IFABP was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and plasma citrulline by high-performance liquid chromatography technique. Ultrastructural changes in duodenal biopsy were also compared between the 2 groups. Results The IFABP concentration was significantly higher in AP cases (n = 94) compared with controls (n = 100) (mean [standard deviation], 592.5 [753.6] vs 87.8 [67.6] pg/mL; P < 0.001) and in patients with severe AP versus mild AP (738.3 [955.3] vs 404.0 [263.3] pg/ mL, P = 0.03). Citrulline concentration was lower in AP versus controls (29.9 [33.8] vs 83.9 [60.1] &mgr;g/L, P < 0.001). We propose a model by which these biomarkers (IFABP >350 pg/mL and citrulline <18 &mgr;g/L) are able to predict poor prognosis in 33.9% of patients with AP. The gut injury was also validated via ultrastructural changes. Conclusions Intestinal fatty acid binding protein is a promising prognostic marker in acute pancreatitis.

Comparison of Various Scoring Systems and Biochemical Markers in Predicting the Outcome in Acute Pancreatitis

Objective Early risk assessment is important in acute pancreatitis (AP). The primary objective of this study was to compare various scores and biochemical markers done on the day of admission in predicting the outcome. Methods Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of patients presenting within 2 weeks of onset were collected. Various scores were calculated and biochemical markers were measured on the day of admission. Optimum cutoffs were identified through receiver operating curve analysis. Multivariate analysis was used to identify predictors of outcome. Results Of 343 patients included, 202 (59%) were male; mean (SD) age was 38.7 (15.5) years. Acute pancreatitis was severe in 170 (49.6%) patients. Twenty-eight percent of the patients developed infected pancreatic necrosis and 18% died. An Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score of at least 7, bedside index for severity of AP (BISAP) of at least 2, systemic inflammatory response syndrome score of at least 3, and C-reactive protein of at least 82 ng/mL predicted severity. Predictors of infected pancreatic necrosis were as follows: PANC 3 score of at least 1, BISAP score of at least 2, and Marshall score of at least 2, whereas C-reactive protein of greater than 98, BISAP score of at least 2, APACHE score of at least 10, and a blood urea nitrogen of at least 17 predicted mortality. Conclusions Both BISAP and APACHE II are comparable in predicting outcome, but BISAP predicted all 3 outcomes with the same cutoff and hence is a robust scoring system.