BACKGROUND/AIMS Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune disease of the liver, is marked by slow progressive destruction of bile ducts. These patients with PBC often undergo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Ischemic bile duct lesion (IBDL) is a major source of morbidity and even mortality after OLT. Cirrhosis of the liver has a higher tolerance to ischemia than a normal liver, but ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Liver biopsy is a standard method for diagnosis of liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis. Because liver biopsy is an invasive method, non-invasive methods have been used for diagnosis of compensated liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis. The current study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of ultrasonography and routine blood tests for diagnosis of...

Patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis have various serious complications which require multiple drugs for therapeutic or prophylactic use. Majority of the drugs are primarily metabolized and excreted by hepatobiliary system; hence, liver cell necrosis contributes to impaired drug handling in liver failure while portosystemic shunt can alter drug action in cirrhosis. Hence, in order to dec...

BACKGROUND Acute and chronic hepatitis E have been associated with high mortality and development of cirrhosis, particularly in solid-organ recipients and patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus. However, data regarding the epidemiology of hepatitis E in special populations is still limited. AIMS Investigate seroprevalence and possible factors associated with HEV infection in a larg...

Regardless of preexisting lung illness, patients suffering from liver cirrhosis, especially decompensated can develop distinct pulmonary complications. Liver cirrhosis should be assessed for hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH), hepatic hydrothorax (HH) and spontaneous bacterial empyema (SBEM) which are the most clinically significant consequences, in particular wh...

OBJECTIVE Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) has been identified as a novel adipokine mediating systemic insulin resistance, and elevated serum RBP4 indicates overt or impending insulin resistance in lean, obese, and type 2 diabetic subjects. As insulin resistance is present in nearly all patients with liver cirrhosis, we evaluated RBP4 in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). RESEARCH DES...

Preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) induces compensatory hyperplasia of the future liver remnants (FLR), thus increasing resectability in the non-cirrhotic patients with primary liver cancer (PLC). However, it is unclear if it is similar in patients with liver cirrhosis. Therefore, the present study investigated the PVE value prior to liver resection in patients with PLC, and the liver ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE T1-weighted MR images show high signal intensity in the pallidum of many patients with liver cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate quantitative changes in MR signals in patients with liver cirrhosis by using the magnetization transfer technique. METHODS Magnetization transfer ratios were measured in seven different regions of the brain in 37 patients with...