BACKGROUND Acute heart failure (AHF) is defined as the new onset or recurrence of gradual or rapidly worsening signs and symptoms of heart failure, requiring urgent or emergent therapy. OBJECTIVES This study attempts to assess the association of liver function tests (LFT) and uric acid level with in hospital outcome and echocardiography parameters, in patients with acute decompensated heart f...

Silymarin from the milk thistle herb (Silybum marianum) is used by many patients with chronic viral hepatitis, but its efficacy remains unknown. We performed a systematic review of silymarin for the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B and C. An exhaustive search strategy identified 148 papers that studied silymarin compounds in liver disease. Of these, four trials included patients with hepa...

Due to its high incidence and poor prognosis, gastric cancer is an important health problem worldwide. The liver is the most frequent site of metastases. Advanced cancer in the setting of liver dysfunction poses a dilemma for physicians, as many cancer chemotherapeutic agents undergo hepatic metabolism. This paper reports the case of a patient with liver failure due to liver metastases of gastr...

BACKGROUND The current organ shortage has prompted the use of marginal organs. We conducted this retrospective study to present our experience with transplanting deceased donor livers with elevated levels of serum transaminases and to explain whether elevated levels of serum transaminases in donors affect allograft function and survival of the recipients. METHODS Data of deceased donor livers...

BACKGROUND Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic mucocutaneous disease of uncertain etiology. Recent reports suggest that LP is an extrahepatic manifestation of Hepatitis C infection. OBJECTIVE To determine the association of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with oral LP and to study the tests of liver function in patients with oral LP. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional case-control study was carri...

BACKGROUND Alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are referred to as liver transaminases. Although used routinely in clinical practice for decades, their role as predictors of mortality has not been examined until recently. We studied the predictive value of these serum transaminases in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primar...

Assessment of liver stiffness (LS) by transient elastography (Fibroscan) has significantly improved the noninvasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis. We here report on a 55-year-old patient with drastically increased LS due to previously unknown systemic mastocytosis. The patient initially presented with increased weight loss, nocturnal pruritus, increased transaminases, bilirubinemia, and thrombocy...

Post-liver transplant intrahepatic cholestasis is consequent to the impairment of bile flow or formation. It may develop in the early (within 6 months) or in the late (more than 6 months) post-liver transplant period and different causes may be recognized according to the time elapsed from a liver transplant. The raise at various degrees of serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma-gluta...

OBJECTIVE To describe an unusual case of acute liver failure due to Hodgkin's lymphoma. CASE PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION A 37-year-old man was admitted with jaundice and abdominal distension. Physical examination showed tender hepatosplenomegaly, ascites, grade I encephalopathy, left cervical (2 x 1 cm) and axillary (1 x 1 cm) lymph nodes. The laboratory data revealed elevated serum bilirub...

The coexistence of Wilson disease with Alport syndrome has not previously been reported. The diagnosis of Wilson disease and its ongoing monitoring is challenging when associated with an underlying renal disease such as Alport syndrome. Proteinuria can lead to low ceruloplasmin since it is among serum proteins inappropriately filtered by the damaged glomerulus, and can also lead to increased ur...