Aim of the study
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of mortality among patients with liver cirrhosis. According to the current practice guidelines, different ablations are used either as curative or palliative therapies. The current study aimed at determining bacterial infections as causes of fever and the predictive role of procalcitonin (PCT) among patients with HCC who had ablation therapy.
Material and methods
This cross sectional study was carried out on 100 patients with HCC during the period from November 2019 to December 2021. All patients were evaluated by full history taking, clinical examination, complete blood picture (CBC), liver biochemistry, coagulation profile, kidney function, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum PCT and blood cultures. All were done for all participants at the 4
th
day follow-up after the procedures of ablation. HCC was treated according to the guidelines.
Results
The frequency of fever after HCC ablation was 64% with variable intensities. Bacterial cultures were positive in 20 patients (20%). Twenty-four out of 100 patients had abnormally high PCT level. There was a highly statistically significant increase of PCT level in patients with a high CRP count and positive blood culture,
p
< 0.05. There was a statistically significant correlation between increased levels of PCT and levels of CRP, WBCs, albumin, AST, ALT, degree of fever, creatinine and BUN.
Conclusions
Bacterial infection accounts for 20% of fever among HCC patients after ablation therapy. PCT is 100% sensitive and specific for detection of the bacterial causes of fever among those patients.
Background: To assess the validity of measuring plasma Angiopoietin as a biomarker for early detection of diabetic nephropathy and todetermine the relation between plasma Ang-2 and inflammation in diabetic nephropathy patients in Zagazig university Hospitals. Subjects and methods:This study included a total of 76 diabetic patients divided to microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria groups , each group contained 38 patients in addition to 40 healthy control subjects. Results: Plasma levels of Ang-2 was significantly higher in patients with microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria compared to healthy controls. Indeed, Ang-2 levels steadily increases with the progression of albuminuria. The study showed significant positive correlation between plasma Ang-2 , MAP and creatinine, uric acid, phosphorus, CRP, total cholesterol and triglycrides. We observed also significant negative correlation between plasma Ang-2 and Hb, eGFR, serum calcium and albumin. Conclusion:Our results indicated that Plasma Angiopoietin-2 levels are elevated in patients with diabetic nephropathy. plasma Ang-2 steadily increase with the progression of albuminuria, suggesting their possible role as early markers of microvascular angiopathy of glomeruli. Plasma Ang-2 is related to CRP, this implies that elevated levels of this biomarker occur as a result of inflammation and vascular dysfunction as a part of atherosclerotic process. Abbreviations: Ang-2 =Angiopoietin-2, CRP = C-reactive protein, Hb= hemoglobin, ACR = albumin-creatinine ratio, ESRD = end stage renal disease, MAP= mean arterial pressure, FBS = fasting blood suger.
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