BACKGROUND Golgi protein-73 (GP73) and fucosylated proteins have been proposed as potential serum markers for liver disease and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of serum GP73 and fucosylated hemopexin (Fuc-HPX) with α-fetoprotein (AFP) and with protein induced by the absence of vitamin K or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) for d...

BACKGROUND A significant proportion of hemodialysis patients have functional, but modifiable, vitamin K deficiency. OBJECTIVE To determine the correlates of poor vitamin K status in hemodialysis patients. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Hemodialysis units at Kingston General Hospital and its satellite centres, Ontario, Canada. PATIENTS Patients undergoing outpatient hemodialysis f...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are at high risk for vitamin K deficiency. The effects of vitamin K supplementation are very ambiguous. Therefore, we aimed to define the determinants of vitamin K deficiency in a large cohort of supplemented - 146 (86.9%) and non-supplemented - 22 (13.1%) CF patients. Vitamin K status was assessed using prothrombin inducted by vitamin K absence (PIVKA-II) and unde...

Abnormal vitamin K status was documented in patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD), especially those undergoing hemodialysis. The data related to patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) are contradictory. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to evaluate vitamin K status in patients with CKD who are treated with continuous ambulatory PD. Twenty-eight patients entered into the study...

Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) in infancy is a serious but preventable cause of mortality or permanent disability. Lack of epidemiologic data for VKDB in sub-Saharan Africa hinders development and implementation of effective prevention strategies. We used convenience sampling to consecutively enroll mothers delivering in a southwestern Uganda Hospital. We collected socio-demographic and d...

BACKGROUND Because hepatectomy is not recommended in patients with stage B hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging, we evaluated the survival outcomes of hepatectomy for stage B in the BCLC system. METHODS Data were collected from 297 consecutive adult stage B patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for HCC between 1996 and 2014 in Hokkaido Unive...

In the absence of vitamin K many mammals generate proteins (PIVKAs) which axe immunologically identical to the vitamin K-dependent clotting factors but which lack thet functional activity [1]. At the moment of their discovery in 1963 121 It was already supposed that PIVKAs were precursors of the vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors. After the discovery by Stenflo and coworkers [3] that the 7...

Months before HCC diagnosis Sensitivity Specificity Youden Index Sensitivity Specificity Youden Index PIVKA-II (mAU/ml) ≥ 32.0 ≥ 100 − 12 31.4% 93.5% 24.9% 2.9% 100% 2.9% − 9 27.8% 94.4% 22.2% 5.6% 99.1% 4.7% − 6 38.9% 92.6% 31.5% 8.3% 100% 8.3% − 3 41.7% 92.6% 34.3% 19.4% 100% 19.4% 0 58.3% 92.6% 50.9% 36.1% 100% 36.1% AFP (ng/ml) ≥ 5.0 ≥ 200 −12 51.4% 77.8% 29.2% 2.9% 100% 2.9% − 9 47.2% 77.8...