Hepatitis C virus in the new era:Perspectives in epidemiology,prevention,diagnostics and predictors of response to therapy

Despite the great successes achieved in the fields of virology and diagnostics,several difficulties affect improvements in hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection control and eradication in the new era.New HCV infections still occur,especially in some of the poorest regions of the world,where HCV is endemic and long-term sequelae have a growing economic and health burden.An HCV vaccine is still no available,despite years of researches and discoveries about the natural history of infection and host-virus interactions:several HCV vaccine candidates have been developed in the last years,targeting different HCV antigens or using alternative delivery systems,but viral variability and adaption ability constitute major challenges for vaccine development.Many new antiviral drugs for HCV therapy are in preclinical or early clinical development,but different limitations affect treatment validity.Treatment predictors are important tools,as they provide some guidance for the management of therapy in patients with chronic HCV infection:in particular,the role of host genomics in HCV infection outcomes in the new era of direct-acting antivirals may evolve for new therapeutic targets,representing a chance for modulated and personalized treatment management,when also very potent therapies will be available.In the present review we discuss the most recent data about HCV epidemiology,the new perspectives for the prevention of HCV infection and the most recent evidence regarding HCV diagnosis,therapy and predictors of response to it.

Diagnostic criteria for autoimmune hepatitis in children: A challenge for pediatric hepatologists

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a progressive inflammatory liver disorder that is rare in children and adolescents. AIH has a broad clinical spectrum and a quick response to treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive medication. The available diagnosis criteria have limitations and should be evaluated in pediatric populations. Recently, some studies reported that the 2008 simplified diagnostic criteria for AIH could be used in children with high sensibility and specificity. In addition, the authors reported that globulin and immunoglobulin G levels can be used interchangeably for diagnostic purposes. They also demonstrated that the 2008 simplified criteria fail in identifying patients with fulminant hepatic failure. Here, we discuss the limitations of the use of these criteria in pediatric patients and the requirement of more studies to improve the diagnosis of AIH in children.

Hepatitis C virus micro-elimination:Where do we stand?

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030, using direct-acting antiviraltreatments, has been promoted by the World Health Organization. Thisachievement is not attainable, however, particularly after the 2020 pandemic ofthe coronavirus disease 2019. Consequently, the more realistic objective ofeliminating HCV from population segments for which targeted strategies ofprevention and treatment are easily attained has been promoted in Europe, as avalid alternative. The underlying idea is that micro-elimination will ultimatelylead to macro-elimination. The micro-elimination strategy may target differentspecific populations and at-risk groups. Different settings, including prisons andhospitals, have also been identified as micro-elimination scenarios. In addition,dedicated micro-elimination strategies have been designed that are tailored at thegeographical level according to HCV epidemiology and individual country’sincome. The main elements of a valid and successful micro-elimination project arereliable epidemiological data and active involvement of all the stakeholders.Community involvement represents another essential component for a successfulprogram.

Efficient Computer Aided Diagnosis System for Hepatic Tumors Using Computed Tomography Scans

One of the leading causes of mortality worldwide is liver cancer.The earlier the detection of hepatic tumors,the lower the mortality rate.This paper introduces a computer-aided diagnosis system to extract hepatic tumors from computed tomography scans and classify them into malignant or benign tumors.Segmenting hepatic tumors from computed tomography scans is considered a challenging task due to the fuzziness in the liver pixel range,intensity values overlap between the liver and neighboring organs,high noise from computed tomography scanner,and large variance in tumors shapes.The proposed method consists of three main stages;liver segmentation using Fast Generalized Fuzzy C-Means,tumor segmentation using dynamic thresholding,and the tumor’s classification into malignant/benign using support vector machines classifier.The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using three liver benchmark datasets,which are MICCAI-Sliver07,LiTS17,and 3Dircadb.The proposed computer adided diagnosis system achieved an average accuracy of 96.75%,sensetivity of 96.38%,specificity of 95.20%and Dice similarity coefficient of 95.13%.

Diagnosis and treatment of trauma of hepatic portal bile duct

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of trauma of hepatic portal bile duct. Methods Eight cases of trauma of the hepatic portal bile duct were reviewed. All short-term splits were treated with repair plus drainage with supporting tube. In 7 cases, there were combined injuries of 2 or more than 2 organs. The combined injuries were respectively treated. Long-term complication of bile duct stenosis was managed with internal drainage. Results Five cases were found during operation. Of these 5 patients, 3 were with the traumatic split less than 50% diameter and 2 with that more than 50% diameter. After repair,1 of the former 3 died and 2 remained in good condition. However, 1 of the latter 2 died and 1 was reoperated on due to bile duct stricture after the repair. Other 3 cases were found due to postoperative bile leakage. They were treated with internal drainage and good results achieved. Conclusion It is difficult to make a definite diagnosis of traumatic injury of hepatic protal bile

Hepatobiliary tuberculosis in the developing world

BACKGROUND Hepatobiliary tuberculosis is a challenging disease that poses diagnostic difficulties due to its resemblance to other etiologies.Delayed diagnosis may lead to inadequate treatment,thus necessitating an urgent need for accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.AIM To systematically review case reports on hepatobiliary tuberculosis,focusing on symptomatology,diagnostic procedures,management,and outcomes to provide patient safety and ensure an uneventful recovery.METHODS A systematic search was conducted on PubMed from 1992 to 2022,using keywords such as hepatobiliary,liver,tuberculosis cholangitis,cholangiopathy,and mycobacterium.Only case reports or case series in English were included in the study,and research papers published as abstracts were excluded.The search yielded a total of 132 cases,which were further narrowed down to 17 case studies,consisting of 24 cases of hepatobiliary tuberculosis.RESULTS The 10 most common symptoms observed in these cases were fever,abdominal pain,weight loss,jaundice,anorexia,generalized weakness,pruritus,chills,fatigue,and chest pains.Objective findings in these cases included hepatomegaly,hepatic nodules,elevated liver enzymes,and elevated bilirubin.Computed tomography scan and ultrasound of the abdomen were the most useful diagnostic tools reported.Histologic demonstration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis confirmed the cases of hepatobiliary tuberculosis.Treatment regimens commonly used included Rifampicin,Isoniazid,Pyrazinamide,and Ethambutol.Out of the 24 cases,18 presented improvements while 4 had completely recovered.CONCLUSION Hepatobiliary tuberculosis is a disease that requires accurate diagnosis and appropriate management to avoid complications.