Hepatitis C virus burden:Treating and educating people without prejudice

Hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection has a worldwide incidence of 1.1%.In Italy,60%of people who inject drugs(PWIDs)and are receiving assistance for substance use disorder are infected with HCV.However,this subset of patients has extremely limited access to care due to multiple factors,including alcohol abuse,psychological comorbidities,and homeless status.AIM To describe the impact of our HCV-dedicated service for substance use disorder(SSUD)service on PWIDs receiving anti-HCV therapy.METHODS A dedicated,multidisciplinary team was set up at the SSUD of Trento in October 2020 to provide antiviral treatment to HCV RiboNucleic Acid-positive patients with an active or previous history of substance abuse.The treatment was followed by a health education program.Patients were treated with Direct-Acting Antivirals(DAAs).Data were retrospectively analyzed to assess the efficacy of our dedicated program in terms of therapy completion,HCV eradication,and compliance(primary endpoint).The rate of HCV reinfection and DAA-related toxicity were also assessed(secondary endpoints).RESULTS A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study:28(70.0%)were treated with Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir,while 12(30.0%)received Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir.At the time of inclusion in the study,36 patients were receiving opioid agonist maintenance therapy,whilst another 4 had just finished the treatment.37.5%had a history of alcoholism and 42.5%received concomitant psychiatric treatment.All 40 patients(100.0%)completed the therapy cycle and 92.5%of patients adhered to the program.All patients tested negative for viral load at the end of the treatment.There were no significant drug interactions with common psychiatric treatments and no side effects were observed.The sustained virological response was achieved in 92.5%of cases with good tolerability,although two patients discontinued treatment temporarily.After HCV eradication,one patient died from an overdose,another from complications of cirrhosis,and one reinfection occurred.CONCLUSION Very high adherence to therapy and good tolerability was observed in our series of HCV patients treated at the SSUD,regardless of the substance abuse condition.Further validation in a larger population is required.

Gastrointestinal tract injuries after thermal ablative therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma:A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND Radiofrequency ablation(RFA)and microwave ablation(MWA)represent the standard of care for patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)who are unfit for surgery.The incidence of reported adverse events is low,ranging from 2.4%to 13.1%for RFA and from 2.6%to 7.5%for MWA.Gastrointestinal tract(GIT)injury is even more infrequent(0.11%),but usually requires surgery with an unfavourable prognosis.Due to its low incidence and the retrospective nature of the studies,the literature reporting this feared complication is heterogeneous and in many cases lacks information on tumour characteristics,comorbidities and treatment approaches.CASE SUMMARY A 77-year-old man who had undergone extended right hepatectomy for HCC was diagnosed with early disease recurrence with a small nodule compatible with HCC in the Sg4b segment of the liver with a subcapsular location.He was treated with percutaneous RFA and a few week later he was urgently admitted to the Surgery ward for abdominal pain and fever.A subcutaneous abscess was diagnosed and treated by percutaneous drainage.A fistulous tract was then documented by the passage of contrast material from the gastric antrum to the abdominal wall.The oesophagogastroduodenoscopy confirmed a circular wall defect at the lesser curvature of gastric antrum, leading directly to the purulentabdominal collection. An over-the-scope clip (OTSC) was used to successfullyclose the defectCONCLUSIONThis is the first reported case of RFA-related GIT injury to have been successfullytreated with an OTSC, which highlights the role of this endoscopic treatment forthe management of this complication.

Familial colorectal cancer: A review

Familial colorectal cancer constitutes a heterogeneous group of patients in whom the underlying molecular mechanism is still unknown.Predisposition to a such neoplasms in this setting seems to be due to common low-penetrance genetic components,but the role of genetic testing in clinical practice has to be determined.Although screening guidelines in this moderate-risk population are empiric,data obtained in epidemiologic,meta-analyses and cohort studies and,more recently,the increased risk of advanced adenomas in first degree relatives who underwent screening colonoscopy support the need to include these individuals in specific screening programs.However,data to determine what test to use,how often to use and which organizational strategy to implement are needed.At present,screening uptake in this population is less than optimal;offering the opportunity to access to screening and improving screening uptake is a first significant step.

Therapeutic strategies for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: State-of-the-art and future perspectives

Although gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms(GEP-NENs)have always been considered rare tumors,their incidence has risen over the past few decades.They represent a highly heterogeneous group of neoplasms with several prognostic factors,including disease stage,proliferative index(Ki67),and tumor differentiation.Most of these neoplasms express somatostatin receptors on the cell surface,a feature that has important implications in terms of prognosis,diagnosis,and therapy.Although International Guidelines propose algorithms aimed at guiding therapeutic strategies,GEP-NEN patients are still very different from one another,and the need for personalized treatment continues to increase.Radical surgery is always the best option when feasible;however,up to 80%of cases are metastatic upon diagnosis.Regarding medical treatments,as GEP-NENs are characterized by relatively long overall survival,multiple therapy lines are adopted during the lifetime of these patients,but the optimum sequence to be followed has never been clearly defined.Furthermore,although new molecular markers aimed at predicting the response to therapy,as well as prognostic scores,are currently being studied,their application is still far from being part of daily clinical practice.As they represent a complex disease,with therapeutic protocols that are not completely standardized,GEP-NENs require a multidisciplinary approach.This review will provide an overview of the available therapeutic options for GEP-NENs and attempts to clarify the possible approaches for the management of these patients and to discuss future perspectives in this field.

Role of laparoscopic and robotic liver resection compared to open surgery in elderly hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim:This study aimed to compare mini-invasive liver resection(MILR)(laparoscopic/robotic approach)and open liver resection(OLR)for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)in elderly patients with regard to clinical and oncological outcomes through a comprehensive systematic review.Methods:The MEDLINE and Cochrane Library electronic databases were systematically searched from 2009 to December 2019 to identify relevant English written studies comparing MILR and OLR.The main endpoints were Child-Pugh score,serum total bilirubin level,comorbidity,presence/absence of cirrhosis,minor/major resection,challenge segment approach,operative time,estimated intraoperative blood loss,liver failure rate,morbidity according to the Clavien-Dindo classification,length of hospital stay(LOS),postoperative mortality,number of lesions,tumor size,readmission rate,recurrence rate and survival at 1,3 and 5 years after operation.Meta-analyses provided pooled relative risks and mean differences for these outcomes.Cut-off for"elderly age"was set at 65 years old.Results:Eight studies that evaluated 3051 patients who underwent liver resection for HCC,with 950 undergoing MILR and 2101 OLR,were included after the screening process.Blood loss,morbidity,and LOS showed statistical significance in favor of MILR.In particular,with respect to OLR,MILR decreased on average blood loss by 161.43 mL(95%CI:250.24-72.61),risk of morbidity by 42%(P<0.01),LOS by 4 days(95%CI:7-2),postoperative mortality risk by 47%(although not significantly,P=0.06).Major resections were significantly more common in the OLR group(P<0.0001).Recurrence,although not significant(P=0.06),must also be emphasized.The two surgical approaches were comparable with regard to the other outcomes investigated.Conclusion:Meta-analyses confirmed the advantages of MILR in terms of short perioperative outcomes,where it may promote the extension of liver resection to HCC patients with borderline liver function.MILR may be considered an important treatment option with significant benefits in the elderly and fragile patients.However,large well-designed prospective comparative studies or randomized controlled trials would be necessary to further confirm our conclusions.