Transjugular intrahepatic portal‐systemic shunt in the treatment of refractory ascites: Effect on clinical, renal, humoral, and hemodynamic parameters

Jorge Quiroga, Bruno Sangro, Marina Núñez, Ignacio Bilbao, Jesús Longo, Luis García‐Villarreal, José M. Zozaya, Maite Betés, José I. Herrero, Jesús Prieto – 1 April 1995 – Seventeen cirrhotics with refractory ascites were treated with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and followed for 15.5 ± 3.4 months. Five patients died, four within 3 months after TIPS (hepatocellular failure) and one after 22 months (cholangiocarcinoma). Six patients received transplants 1 to 10 months after the procedure. Actuarial survival at 6, 12, and 24 months was 75%, 75%, and 63%, respectively.

Plasma calprotectin: A new prognostic marker of survival in alcohol‐induced cirrhosis

Christian Homann, Peter Garred, Niels Graudal, Philip Hasselqvist, Michael Christiansen, Magne K. Fagerhol, Åge Christian Thomsen – 1 April 1995 – Plasma levels of calprotectin were determined in 84 patients with alcohol‐induced cirrhosis. Calprotectin is released from disintegrating neutrophils, and plasma levels seem to reflect activation and turnover of such cells. The purpose of the study was to investigate the degree of activation of neutrophils, which has been indicated to be increased and a cause of neutrophil exhaustion in these patients.

Progressive type of focal nodular hyperplasia characterized by multiple tumors and recurrence

Daniel C. Sadowski, Samuel S. Lee, Ian R. Wanless, James K. Kelly, E. Jenny Heathcote – 1 April 1995 – Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is usually a stable lesion that does not enlarge when studied for long periods of time; recurrence after resection has not been reported. We present a patient with a solitary FNH lesion that enlarged, was resected, and then recurred. A second resection was performed because of abdominal pain and disclosed multiple lesions, two of which were acutely infarcted. Thirty‐two months later there was ultrasound evidence of further recurrence.

Small intestinal absorption of polyethylene glycol 400 to 1,000 in the portacaval shunted rat

Niclas Pantzar, Peter B. F. Bergqvist, Mogens Bugge, Gunnar Olaison, Stefan Lundin, Bengt Jeppsson, Björn Weström, Finn Bengtsson – 1 April 1995 – Functional changes of the intestinal barrier that may occur after the creation of a portacaval shunt (PCS) were investigated. After chronic PCS in the rat, the intestinal absorption of and the jejunal permeability to the inert polymer marker polyethylene glycol (PEG) with molecular weight (Mw) ranging from 400 to 1,000 g/mol were investigated.

The structure and organization of the bile canalicular cytoskeleton with special reference to actin and actin‐binding proteins

Nobuhiro Tsukada, Cameron A. Ackerley, M. James Phillips – 1 April 1995 – The distribution of actin filaments and actin‐binding proteins in the bile canaliculus (BC) of normal human hepatocytes was determined as a means of establishing the structure and organization of the BC cytoskeleton. Immunoblots demonstrated that actin, and the actin‐binding proteins, myosin II, tropomyosin, vinculin, α‐actinin, villin, were present, as were the non‐actin‐related proteins β‐tubulin, and cytokeratins.

Iron overload facilitates hepatic fibrosis in the rat alcohol/low‐dose carbon tetrachloride model

Malcolm Mackinnon, Cindy Clayton, John Plummer, Michael Ahern, Patricia Cmielewski, Anthony Ilsley, Pauline Hall – 1 April 1995 – The role of iron deposition in initiating hepatic fibrosis in iron overload disorders is not clearly established, and it is becoming increasingly recognized that iron may be interacting with other potential liver‐damaging agents. The authors therefore examined the interplay of iron and alcohol in rats administered subtoxic doses of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) vapor at 20 ppm in customized chambers.

Insulin secretion and plasma levels of glucose‐dependent insulinotropic peptide and glucagon‐like peptide 1 [7‐36 amide] after oral glucose in cirrhosis

Yolanta T. Kruszynska, Mohammad A. Ghatei, Stephen R. Bloom, Neil McIntyre – 1 April 1995 – A blunted initial insulin secretory response may contribute to oral glucose intolerance in cirrhosis. Oral glucose is a better stimulant to insulin secretion than intravenous (IV) glucose in part because of release of gut peptides, notably glucose‐dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and glucagon‐like peptide 1 [7‐36 amide] (GLP‐1 [7‐36 amide]).

Two‐year biochemical, virological, and histological follow‐up in patients with chronic hepatitis C responding in a sustained fashion to interferon alfa‐2b treatment

Olle Reichard, Hans Glaumann, Aril Frydén, Gunnar Norkrans, Robert Schvarcz, Anders Sönnerborg, Zhi‐Bing Yun, Ola Weiland – 1 April 1995 – Fourteen patients with chronic hepatitis C who had a sustained response to a 60‐week interferon alfa‐2b treatment course were followed, biochemically and virologically, 2 years after treatment cessation. Biopsies were repeated in 12 of 14 for histological and virological evaluation at 2‐year follow‐up.

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