Acute Liver Failure With Liver Enzymes >5,000 in Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease is a hemoglobinopathy often complicated by painful vaso-occlusive episodes, acute chest syndrome, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Sickle cell intrahepatic cholestasis (SCIC) is a rare and potentially fatal complication of sickle cell disease. SCIC is thought to involve progressive hepatic injury due to sickling within sinusoids. We present the case of a young patient with SCIC and acute liver failure, requiring prompt treatment with exchange transfusion. Our case describes features that should raise suspicion for hepatic failure in SCIC and highlights exchange transfusion as a successful management approach in similar patients with an otherwise high risk of mortality.

EUS imaging for the diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

EUS is increasingly used to evaluate patients with liver disease, but its role in assessing hepatic steatosis has not been reported. The goal of our study was to assess the accuracy of EUS for diagnosing hepatic steatosis.

METHODS

We identified all patients who underwent EUS-guided liver biopsy sampling at our institution. All digitally stored EUS liver images were reviewed by a single radiologist, who rated the severity of liver echogenicity using a 4-point US scale. Liver biopsy specimens for all study patients were reviewed by a single liver pathologist, who rated them for steatosis and fibrosis using Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network criteria. Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of EUS for hepatic steatosis for all patients and in a subgroup analysis for obese and nonobese patients.

RESULTS

During the study period, 76 patients underwent EUS-guided liver biopsy sampling. The average age of study patients was 56.5 years, 50% were women, and 43.2% were obese. The accuracy for EUS for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis was .8 (95% confidence interval [CI], .7-.89). The accuracy of EUS for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in obese patients was .93 (95% CI, .8-.99) and in nonobese patients was .69 (95% CI, .54-.83). For obese patients, EUS had a positive predictive value of 89.7% and a negative predictive value of 75%. The finding of course echotexture on EUS had an accuracy of 79% for the diagnosis of grade 3 fibrosis or cirrhosis.

CONCLUSIONS

EUS is a useful tool for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis, particularly in obese patients in whom abdominal US has modest accuracy.

Race/Ethnicity Is Not Independently Associated with Risk of Adverse Waitlist Removal among Patients with HCC Exception Points

(1) Background: Since 2015, exception points have been awarded to appropriate candidates after six months of waitlist time to allow more equitable access to liver transplants regardless of hepatocellular carcinoma status. However, it remains unknown whether racial disparities in outcomes among waitlisted patients remain after the introduction of a 6-month waiting period for exception points. (2) Methods: Using the United Network for Organ Sharing database, we identified 2311 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma listed for liver transplant who received exception points from 2015 to 2019. The outcome of interest was waitlist survival defined as the composite outcome of death or removal for clinical deterioration. Competing risk analysis was used to identify factors associated with death or removal for clinical deterioration. The final model adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, blood type, diabetes, obesity, laboratory MELD score, tumor size, AFP, locoregional therapies, UNOS region, and college education. (3) Results: No difference was found in the risk of adverse waitlist removal among ethnic/racial groups.