Routine blood tests to predict liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C

AIM: To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy before treatment. FibroQ, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratioindex, cirrhosis discriminant score, age-platelet index (API), Pohl score, FIB-4 index, and Lok's model were calculated and compared. RESULTS: FibroQ, FIB-4, AAR, API and Lok's model results increased significantly as fibrosis advanced (analysis of variance test: P < 0.001). FibroQ trended to be superior in predicting signifi cant fi brosis score in chronic hepatitis C compared with other noninvasive tests. CONCLUSION: FibroQ is a simple and useful test for predicting signifi cant fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Pentoxifylline versus prednisolone for severe alcoholic hepatitis:A randomized controlled trial

AIM： To compare the efficacy of pentoxifylline and prednisolone in the treatment of severe alcoholic hepatitis, and to evaluate the role of different liver function scores in predicting prognosis.METHODS： Sixty-eight patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis （Maddrey score ≥ 32） received pentoxifylline （n = 34, group Ⅰ） or prednisolone （n = 34, group Ⅱ） for 28 d in a randomized double-blind controlled study, and subsequently in an open study （with a tapering dose of prednisolone） for a total of 3 mo, and were followed up over a period of 12 mo.RESULTS： Twelve patients in group Ⅱ died at the end of 3 mo in contrast to five patients in group Ⅰ. The probability of dying at the end of 3 mo was higher in group Ⅱ as compared to group Ⅰ （35.29% vs 14.71%, P = 0.04; log rank test）. Six patients in group I developed hepatorenal syndrome as compared to none in group Ⅰ. Pentoxifylline was associated with a significantly lower model for end-stage liver disease （MELD） score at the end of 28 d of therapy （15.53± 3.63 vs 17.78± 4.56, P=0.04）. Higher baseline Maddrey score was associated with increased mortality.CONCLUSION： Reduced mortality, improved risk-benefit profile and renoprotective effects of pentoxifylline compared with prednisolone suggest that pentoxifylline is superior to prednisolone for treatment of severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Predicting utility of a model for end stage liver disease in alcoholic liver disease

AIM： To validate the statistic utility of both the Maddrey Discriminant Function score and the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease as predictors of short term （30 d and 90 d） mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and to assess prognostic factors among clinical characteristics and laboratory variables of patients with alcoholic hepatitis. METHODS： Thirty-four patients with the diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis admitted to Hippokration University Hospital of Athens from 2000 to 2005 were assessed in the current retrospective study and a statistical analysis was conducted. RESULTS： 30- and 90-d mortality rates were reported at 5.9% （2/34） and 14.7% （5/34）, respectively. Significant correlation was demonstrated for the Model for End- Stage Liver Disease （P30 = 0.094, P90 = 0.046） and the Maddrey Discriminant Function score （P30 = 0.033, P90 = 0.038） with 30- and 90-d mortality whereas a significant association was also established for alanine aminotrans- ferase （P = 0.057）, fibrin degradation products （P = 0.048） and C-reactive protein （P = 0.067） with 90-d mortality. For 30-d mortality the Area Under the Curve was 0.969 （95%CI： 0.902-1.036, P = 0.028） for the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score and 0.984 （95%CI： 0.942-1.027, P = 0.023） for the Maddrey Discriminant Function score with the optimal cut off point of 30.5 （sensitivity 1, specificity 0.937） and 108.68 （sensitivity 1, specificity 0.969）, respectively. Accordingly, for 90-d mortality the Area Under the Curve was 0.762 （95%CI： 0.559-0.965, P = 0.065） for the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score and 0.752 （95%CI： 0.465-1.038, P = 0.076） for the Maddrey Discriminant Function score with the optimal cut off point of 19 （sensitivity 0.6, specificity 0.6） and 92 （sensitivity 0.6, specificity 0.946）, respectively. The observed Kaplan Meier survival rates for different score-categories were compared with logrank tests and higher score values were correlated with a lower survival. CONCLUSION： Equivalency of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease and the Maddrey Discriminant Function score is implied by the current study, verified by the plotted Receiver Operative Curves and the estimated survival rates. A statistically significant utility of C-reactive protein, fibrin degradation products and alanine aminotransferase as independent predictors of 90-d mortality has also been verified.