1/44. Hydroxyethyl starch-induced renal insufficiency after plasma exchange in a patient with polymyositis and liver cirrhosis.Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is a macromolecular preparation that has been used as a volume expander since 1991. Renal toxicity of high-dose HES is now well recognized but potential renal toxicity of low-dose HES is poorly documented. Acute renal toxicity of cyclosporin A (CyA) may be responsible for osmotic nephrosis-like lesions. We report here the case of a 30-year-old male who developed cirrhosis due to hepatitis B and delta viruses and polymyositis. polymyositis was treated with CyA, prednisone and plasma exchanges using low-dose HES as the replacement fluid. renal insufficiency occurred with biopsy-proven osmotic nephrosis-like lesions, considered to be secondary to HES infusions and/or CyA.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/44. Severe hepatitis due to HBV-HDV coinfection.Quadruple hepatic infections are not uncommon in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients. Hepatotropic viruses behave differently in immunocompromised patients resulting in varied clinical and serological outcomes. Delta hepatitis, an important cause of acute hepatitis in intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) and HIV-infected patients, can present as coinfection or superinfection clinically, which influences the prognosis. Prevention of hepatitis D virus (HDV) coinfection is possible with hepatitis b virus (HBV) vaccination. No definitive medical treatment for HDV infection is known to be successful. Interestingly, liver transplantation carries a higher success rate in HDV/HBV infection then in HBV infection alone.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/44. Chronic hepatitis B with flare due to co-infection of hepatitis delta virus during lamivudine therapy.In 1997, a 27-year-old homosexual man contracted acute hepatitis B that developed into chronic hepatitis. Because of repeated flares, administration of lamivudine was started in March 2002. hepatitis b virus (HBV) dna immediately decreased, but the serum level of alanine aminotransferase gradually increased. Drug-induced hepatitis due to lamivudine was excluded. It was suspected that the progression of liver damage was caused by hepatitis delta virus (HDV), because the patient was positive for both anti-HDV antibody and HDV RNA. Co-infection of HDV should be considered a possibility if liver injury is not improved by lamivudine therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 12keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/44. Acute delta hepatitis without hepatitis B surface antigen detectable in the blood.The case is described of a 42-year-old man suffering from acute delta hepatitis without hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) being detectable in his blood. Tests on the patient's blood were negative for anti-HBcIgM and HBeAg but positive for anti-HBs, anti-HBe, HDAg and anti-DIgM. It is well known that the delta antigen-antibody system is detectable only in HBsAg carriers except rarely in persons recently recovered from acute hepatitis b virus (HBV) and delta infection. We report one of the rare cases in which the circulating HBsAg as well as anti-HBcIgM and HBeAg were not found in the patient's serum, thus indicating the absence of recent infection with HBV.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/44. Evolution of hepatitis delta virus RNA during chronic infection.The complete RNA sequences of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) isolated at three different time points from a chronic delta hepatitis patient were determined. These time points represented three different periods of clinical flare-ups. The sequence analysis showed that these three different HDV isolates evolved at a rate ranging from 3.0 x 10(-2) to 3.0 x 10(-3) substitutions/nucleotide/year, depending on the period of infection. The evolution rates appeared to correlate with the changes of clinical pictures of hepatitis, i.e., the more drastic the change in the symptom of hepatitis was, the more nucleotide changes were detected. Except during the transition from the acute phase to chronic phase of delta hepatitis, when there was a much larger number of changes in HDV RNA sequence, the overall evolution rate of HDV RNA in the chronic phase appeared to be similar to those of other rna viruses. Sequence relationship of these HDV RNAs suggested that acute exacerbations in chronic delta hepatitis were associated with the evolution of the persistently infected HDV, rather than resulting from new viral infections. However, some of the mutations were not cumulative, suggesting that HDV isolated at a later time was not directly evolved from the immediately previous one. Thus, HDV at any time point was a mixture of viruses with slight sequence variations, and a specific HDV RNA species was selected from this virus population under different environments. These findings indicate that HDV RNA is heterogeneous and evolves at a fast rate. The evolution rates in different parts of HDV RNA also varied. The evolution rate of HDV RNA determined here was higher than the ones determined previously from partial RNA sequences of two Japanese HDV isolates.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 10keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/44. Hepatitis delta superinfection during alpha-interferon treatment for hepatitis B.Alpha-interferon (IFN) has been used to treat hepatitis b virus carriers with chronic hepatitis delta virus superinfection. Although the drug inhibits hepatitis delta virus replication during administration, long-term clearance of the virus has not been obtained in most patients. The effectiveness of alpha-interferon on chronic HDV infection is therefore questionable. No data are available on acute infection. We report the case of a young, immunocompetent HBsAg carrier in whom hepatitis delta virus superinfection occurred while he was receiving alpha-interferon in order to reduce high level HBV replication, and followed a peculiar course.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/44. Transplantation of hepatitis B surface antigen-positive livers into hepatitis b virus-positive recipients and the role of hepatitis delta coinfection.The scarcity of liver donors requires consideration of grafts from sources not previously used. allografts from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-carriers without a significant liver disease have been proposed for liver transplant recipients with hepatitis b virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Combination prophylaxis schemes against HBV post-liver transplantation (LT) recurrence are currently available; the efficacy of those schemes in HBV-related cirrhosis and HCC must be assessed. This report describes the allocation of HBsAg-positive grafts in three HBsAg-positive recipients, with HBV-related cirrhosis and evolving HCC lesions, two of them with hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) coinfection. patients were administered anti-hepatitis B immunoglobulins (HBIGs) and lamivudine in order to prevent HBV recurrence. In spite of anti-HBV prophylaxis, HBV infection did persist after LT in all patients (no serum clearance of HBsAg). HBV replication assessed by serum HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) presence was detected in the first month after LT in the 3 recipients. A prompt HDV reinfection with a clinical and histological pattern of hepatitis was observed in the 2 HBV / HDV coinfected recipients. In 1 of them, an evolving chronic hepatitis required a second LT. The non-HDV-infected patient showed an uneventful follow-up, but the lack of the neutralizing effect of HBIGs and the high risk of escape mutants forced the addition of adefovir-dipivoxil to lamivudine, in order to prevent viral variants and hepatitis recurrence. In conclusion, allografts from HBsAg-positive donors in HBsAg-positive recipients are associated with the persistence of the HBsAg after LT due to the failure of HBIG prophylaxis, even if lamivudine does inhibit virion production. This condition favors HDV replication and HDV hepatitis recurrence in coinfected patients. The allocation of HBsAg-positive grafts in HBsAg-positive recipients could be justified only in recipients without HDV coinfection and a combined prophylaxis with lamivudine and adefovir-dipivoxil is currently the best way to manage escape mutants in these recipients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 20keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/44. Orthotopic liver transplantation in a malignant hyperthermia susceptible patient.We present a patient with hepatitis c and D and hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent preoperative evaluation for orthotopic liver transplantation. In his past medical history, he reported a life-threatening event during tonsillectomy in 1975. intubation was impossible due to extreme jaw muscle tension, followed by excessive elevation in body temperature, tachycardia, and coma for a few days. We evaluated him for malignant hyperthermia, according to the European malignant hyperthermia Group Protocol, and found him highly positive in both the halothane and caffeine test, respectively. Three months later, we performed an orthotopic liver transplantation. During retransplantation 4 years later, due to ischemic-type biliary lesions, he suffered massive intraoperative bleeding. blood products, as well as coagulation factors and aprotinin, were well tolerated. anesthesia was performed in a trigger-free total intravenous technique without dantrolene prophylaxis, but dantrolene was readily available in sufficient quantities in the operating room. The patient did not encounter a malignant hyperthermia crisis in either perioperative period.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/44. Treatment of hepatic hydrothorax with terlipressin in a cirrhotic patient.Hepatic hydrothorax is a complication of cirrhosis that is uncommon and difficult to treat. Diuretic therapy, thoracentesis, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt and liver transplantation are the main therapeutic options. Here, we report on a 47-year-old man with decompensated liver cirrhosis related to hepatitis B and D virus infections and who had complications of hepatic hydrothorax and hepatorenal syndrome. In this case, the hepatic hydrothorax, which was refractory to thoracic tube drainage and octreotide treatment, could be controlled with 5 days of terlipressin therapy associated with albumin. Terlipressin administration resulted in both improvement in renal function and successful resolution of hepatic hydrothorax. Splanchnic vasoconstrictor agents that reduce splanchnic blood flow, increase both central volume and effective renal blood flow. Thus they improve renal function. In our case, terlipressin, known to be beneficial in hepatorenal syndrome, was also effective in the treatment of hepatic hydrothorax probably by similar mechanisms. This is the first case in the literature.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/44. hepatitis delta virus super-infection in a co-infected patient with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and a surface antigen-negative hepatitis b virus variant.Human immunodeficiency virus infection has a major impact on the natural history of chronic hepatitis B and favours the emergence of viral mutants. We describe an acute hepatitis D virus superinfection in an hiv-1-infected patient under HAART treatment who was previously a chronic carrier of a surface negative HBV variant resistant to lamivudine.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = hepatitis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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