LiverLearning®: 2017 Webinar: Chronic Hepatitis B and Pregnancy: Management and Prevention of Vertical Transmission

The management of women of child-bearing age and pregnant women with chronic hepatitis B requires special consideration due to the potential effects of antiviral therapy on unborn fetus and potential for hepatitis flares for pregnant and postpartum women. While universal maternal screening programs and immunoprophylaxis to newborns have greatly reduced mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT), immunoprophylaxis can fail in up to 30% of infants, especially in mothers with high HBV DNA levels and positive HBeAg.

Reassessing the safety concerns of utilizing blood donations from patients with hemochromatosis

Adam C. Winters, Douglas Tremblay, Suzanne Arinsburg, John Mascarenhas, Thomas D. Schiano – 13 September 2017 – Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disorder of iron metabolism that may lead to iron overload. Clinical penetrance is low, however those afflicted may develop cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes mellitus, and cardiomyopathy. Treatment of HH involves regular phlebotomy to reduce the systemic iron burden.

NLRP3 inflammasome driven liver injury and fibrosis: Roles of IL‐17 and TNF in mice

Alexander Wree, Matthew D. McGeough, Maria Eugenia Inzaugarat, Akiko Eguchi, Susanne Schuster, Casey D. Johnson, Carla A. Peña, Lukas J. Geisler, Bettina G. Papouchado, Hal M. Hoffman, Ariel E. Feldstein – 13 September 2017 – The NLRP3 inflammasome, a caspase‐1 activation platform, plays a key role in the modulation of liver inflammation and fibrosis. Here, we tested the hypothesis that interleukin 17 (IL‐17) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are key cytokines involved in amplifying and perpetuating the liver damage and fibrosis resulting from NLRP3 activation.

Cardiovascular predictors of death in patients with cirrhosis

Maurizio Cesari, Anna Chiara Frigo, Marta Tonon, Paolo Angeli – 13 September 2017 – Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is associated with poor outcomes in patients with cirrhosis. We investigated if subclinical cardiac morphologic and functional modifications can influence survival in patients with cirrhosis during follow‐up. A series of patients with cirrhosis without cardiovascular or pulmonary disease underwent standard and tissue Doppler echocardiography to assess left ventricular geometry, systolic/diastolic function, and the main haemodynamic parameters.

Nuclear lamina genetic variants, including a truncated LAP2, in twins and siblings with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Graham F. Brady, Raymond Kwan, Peter J. Ulintz, Phirum Nguyen, Shirin Bassirian, Venkatesha Basrur, Alexey I. Nesvizhskii, Rohit Loomba, M. Bishr Omary – 13 September 2017 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming the major chronic liver disease in many countries. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial, but twin and familial studies indicate significant heritability, which is not fully explained by currently known genetic susceptibility loci. Notably, mutations in genes encoding nuclear lamina proteins, including lamins, cause lipodystrophy syndromes that include NAFLD.

Reassessing the safety concerns of utilizing blood donations from patients with hemochromatosis

Adam C. Winters, Douglas Tremblay, Suzanne Arinsburg, John Mascarenhas, Thomas D. Schiano – 13 September 2017 – Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disorder of iron metabolism that may lead to iron overload. Clinical penetrance is low, however those afflicted may develop cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes mellitus, and cardiomyopathy. Treatment of HH involves regular phlebotomy to reduce the systemic iron burden.

LiverLearning®: 2017 Webinar: Surrogate Endpoints in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)

This webinar, presented by the Cholestatic and Biliary Diseases SIG, will focus on the complex topic of Surrogate Endpoints in PSC. The webinar will discuss the Natural History of PSC and the resulting difficulty in identifying relevant endpoints for prognostication and for use in clinical trials. Promising candidate endpoints will be specifically addressed based on the latest clinical research.David Assis (Moderator) Dr. David Assis is an assistant professor of medicine in the section of Digestive Diseases at Yale University School of Medicine.

Complete response under sorafenib in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: Relationship with dermatologic adverse events

Jordi Rimola, Álvaro Díaz‐González, Anna Darnell, María Varela, Fernando Pons, Manuel Hernandez‐Guerra, Manuel Delgado, Javier Castroagudin, Ana Matilla, Bruno Sangro, Carlos Rodriguez de Lope, Margarita Sala, Carmen Gonzalez, Carlos Huertas, Beatriz Minguez, Carmen Ayuso, Jordi Bruix, María Reig – 12 September 2017 – The clinical benefit of sorafenib in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been undervalued due to the absence of complete responses, even though patients who develop early dermatologic reactions have shown to have a positive outcome.

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