Background and aims: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a frequent syndrome associated with high mortality. The aims of the present study are: a) comparing the Chronic Liver Failure Consortium (CLIF-C) ACLF Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), MELD Sodium (MELD-Na) and Child-TurcottePugh (CTP) scores for prediction of short/medium term mortality; b) identifying ACLF prevalence in patients admitted to the ward; and c) comparing mortality between non-ACLF/ACLF.Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 177 patients admitted to the Gastroenterology ward for acute decompensation of cirrhosis.Results: We included 132 males. Alcohol was the cirrhosis cause/co-factor in 79.7% of cases. Infection was present in 40.7%. At admission, 19.8% of patients presented ACLF and 7.9% developed it during hospitalization (overall prevalence was 27.7%). ACLF grade 1 was diagnosed in 55.1% of the ACLF patients; grade 2, in 42.8%, and grade 3, in 2.0%. Infection (p < 0.001) and hepatic encephalopathy (p = 0.004) were more prevalent and C-reactive protein and leukocyte counts were higher in ACLF patients. ACLF 28 and 90-day mortality was 45.8% and 60.4%, respectively. The CLIF-C ACLF score was significantly superior to CTP, MELD, MELD-Na in predicting 28-day (AUROC 0.799 ± 0.078, 95% CI 0.637-0.891) and 90-day mortality (AUROC 0.828 ± 0.063, 95% CI 0.705-0.952).Conclusion: ACLF is highly prevalent in the ward. The new CLIF scores identify high mortality cirrhotic patients admitted to the ward and are better than their predecessors to predict ACLF patients' short/medium term mortality.

Background The impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on sexual health is a leading concern among patients. Most studies focus on sexual dysfunction rather than patient-perceived sexual quality of life (SQoL). We aimed to assess SQoL in IBD patients compared with healthy controls. Methods This is a multicenter, cross-sectional study of IBD patients (n = 575 with Crohn’s disease and n = 294 with ulcerative colitis), compared with healthy controls (n = 398), that used an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. This multimodal questionnaire included sociodemographic data and 4 validated instruments: Short IBD Questionnaire, Social Desirability Scale, Sexual QoL Questionnaire–Male/Female, Nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Results Inflammatory bowel disease patients reported lower SQoL (men: 77.29 vs 83.83; P &lt; 0.001; women: 70.40 vs 81.63; P &lt; 0.001) compared with controls. Among IBD patients, SQoL was positively correlated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and negatively correlated with depression symptoms. Perianal disease was associated with lower HRQoL and higher incidence of depression, but only impacted SQoL in men. In linear regression analysis for men, SQoL was associated with age, marital status, and depression (β, –2.101; 95% confidence interval [CI], –2.505 to –1.696; P &lt; 0.001). In women, SQoL was associated with depression (β, –1.973; 95% CI, –2.313 to –1.632; P &lt; 0.001) only. Conclusions Patients with IBD had impaired SQoL compared with healthy controls. Age, widow status, and depression were independent predictors of SQoL in men with IBD, whereas in women depression was the only independent predictor. Emotional and self-esteem issues were the main concerns reported by IBD patients regarding sexual health.

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Background and Aims Golimumab has an established exposure-response relationship in patients with ulcerative colitis [UC]. However, the association of serum golimumab trough levels [TL] with objective markers of disease activity, such as endoscopic and histological activity scores and concentrations of biomarkers, remains less understood. This report describes the relationship of serum golimumab TL at the end of the induction period [Week 6] with clinical, endoscopic, histological, and biomarker parameters. Methods This was an open-label, uncontrolled, prospective and interventional study. Moderate to severely active UC patients naïve to biologic therapy were treated with golimumab. Serum golimumab TL and faecal calprotectin levels were measured at baseline [Week 0 of induction] and Week 6. Results A total of 34 patients completed the induction phase [Week 6] and were included in this analysis. Overall, 47.1% and 14.7% of patients achieved clinical response and remission with significantly higher serum golimumab TL in patients with early response or remission [3.7 μg/mL vs 1.3 μg/mL, p = 0.0013; and 3.1 μg/mL vs 1.7 μg/mL, p = 0.0164, respectively]. In addition, golimumab TL were significantly higher in patients achieving histological remission [4.2 μg/mL vs 1.7 μg/mL, p = 0.0049]. Week 6 golimumab TL were inversely correlated with the total Mayo score [rs = -0.546; p = 0.0008], the Mayo endoscopic subscore [rs = -0.381; p = 0.0262], the Geboes histological activity score [rs = -0.464; p = 0.0057], and faecal calprotectin levels [rs = -0.497; p = 0.0044]. Conclusions A higher early exposure to golimumab is associated with a better objective response in active UC patients and appears to drive the outcome at Week 6.