The majority of veteran patients are not suitable candidates for HCV treatment because of substance abuse, psychiatric disease, and comorbid medical disease, and many who are candidates decline therapy. Multidisciplinary collaboration is needed to overcome barriers to HCV therapy in this population.

Severe, but not mild or moderate, intraoperative hyperglycemia is independently associated with postoperative SSI and should be avoided during LT surgery.

Post-LT ARI or ARF occurred frequently in patients with normal preoperative renal function and was associated with both preoperative and intraoperative risk factors. Although both post-LT ARI and ARF are associated with significant post-LT morbidity, the impact of ARF is greater.

Elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels and statin use have been associated with higher sustained virological response (SVR) rates in patients receiving chronic hepatitis C therapy. However, these relationships have not been well characterized in randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, little is known about the relationship between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and virological response. To determine whether baseline LDL or HDL levels and statin use affect SVR rates, we retrospectively evaluated the IDEAL (Individualized Dosing Efficacy Versus Flat Dosing to Assess Optimal Pegylated Interferon Therapy) trial, in which 3070 treatment-naive, hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1-infected patients were treated for up to 48 weeks in one of the following arms: (1) peginterferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2b at 1.5 lg/kg/week with ribavirin (RBV) at 800 to 1400 mg/day, (2) PEG-IFN alfa2b at 1.0 lg/kg/week with RBV at 800 to 1400 mg/day, or (3) PEG-IFN alfa-2a at 180 lg/week with RBV at 1000 to 1200 mg/day. Virological responses were assessed by pretreatment statin use and baseline elevated LDL levels (!130 mg/dL) or low HDL levels (<40 mg/dL for men and <50 mg/dL for women). In 1464 patients with baseline elevated LDL levels or low HDL levels, the SVR rate was significantly higher than that in patients with normal levels (44.9% versus 34.0%, P < 0.001). In 66 patients receiving a statin pretreatment, the SVR rate was higher than the rate of those not receiving it (53.0% versus 39.3%, P 5 0.02). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis using the stepwise selection method with baseline characteristics, a high LDL level [odds ratio (OR) 5 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5 1.4-1.8, P < 0.001], a low HDL level (OR 5 0.5, 95% CI 5 0.3-0.8, P 5 0.004), and statin use (OR 5 2.0, 95% CI 5 1.1-3.7, P 5 0.02) were independently associated with SVR. Conclusion: Baseline elevated LDL levels or low HDL levels and preemptive statin usage were associated with higher SVR rates. Prospective studies may be considered to explore the biological impact of these factors on HCV RNA replication and treatment response. (HEPATOLOGY 2010;52:864-874)

Recent changes in organ allocation based on the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) prioritize the most ill patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation. While patients undergoing liver transplantation in the MELD era are more acutely ill, the impact of the policy changes on perioperative management has not been completely assessed. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 124 primary adult liver transplant patients. Patients were divided into low (Յ30) and high MELD (Ͼ30) score groups. Preoperative characteristics and intraoperative management were compared between the 2 groups. Patients with high MELD scores had lower baseline hematocrit and fibrinogen levels and were more likely to require ventilatory and vasopressor support before transplantation. Intraoperative transfusion requirements and use of vasopressors were also significantly increased in patients with high MELD scores compared to patients with low MELD scores. In conclusion, these data suggest that pretransplant MELD scores provide important information for perioperative management of patients undergoing liver transplantation. Liver Transpl 12: 614-620, 2006.

An easy method of fabricating superoleophobic surfaces on Al substrates by constructing reentrant structures is reported. The reentrant micro/nanometer-scale structures comprise micrometer-scale, rectangular-shaped, and step-like Al structures obtained by electrochemical etching and nanometerscale Ag grains resulting from immersion in [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ] + solution. Surface energy is reduced by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) containing -CF 3 and -CF 2groups. The PFOA-modified micro/nanometerscale rough structures enable the formation of a composite solid-liquid-air interface with peanut oil.These structures show good superoleophobicity with a peanut oil contact angle of 160.0 AE 2 and a sliding angle of 8 . Nanometer-scale structures can effectively transform the micrometer-scale nonreentrant structures into reentrant structures. With the aid of suitable low surface energy materials such as PFOA, fabricating superoleophobic surfaces on Al substrates can be easier.

In previous hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment studies, Black patients not only had a lower sustained viral response (SVR) rate to interferon and ribavirin (RBV) than non-Black patients but also a higher frequency of HCV genotype 1 (GT-1) infection. The aim of this community-based study was to determine whether Black patients have a lower SVR rate independent of genotype. We prospectively enrolled 785 patients (24.8% Black, 71.5% White, 3.7% others) who received interferon alpha-2b 3 MU three times weekly + RBV 1000-1200 mg/day for 24 weeks (GT-2/3) or 48 weeks (GT-1). Black patients were more commonly infected with GT-1 (86.8%vs 64.8%, P < 0.001) and less frequently had an SVR compared with non-Black patients (8.4%vs 21.6%, P < 0.001). Within GT-1, Black patients had a lower SVR rate than non-Black patients (6.1%vs 14.1%, P = 0.004) but not within GT-2/3 (50.0%vs 36.5%, P = 0.47). Black patients had lower baseline haemoglobin levels (14.8 vs 15.3 g/dL, P < 0.001) and neutrophil counts (2900 vs 4100/mm(3), P < 0.001) and required more frequent dose reductions of RBV (29.8%vs 18.5%, P < 0.001) and interferon (4.7%vs 1.6%, P = 0.012). However, dose reductions were not associated with lower SVR rates while early treatment discontinuations were (2.9%vs 25.7%, P < 0.001). Independent predictors of SVR were GT-1 [odds ratio (OR) 0.33; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20-0.55; P < 0.001], Black race (OR 0.45; 95% CI 0.22-0.93; P = 0.030), and advanced fibrosis, stages 3 + 4 (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.31-0.92; P = 0.023). In conclusion, Black patients infected with HCV GT-1 (but not GT-2/3) have a lower SVR rate than non-Black patients. This is not explained by their lower baseline haemoglobin levels and neutrophil counts that lead to higher rates of ribavirin and interferon dose reductions.

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