Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES) with gastrointestinal manifestations,and to improve the level of diagnosis and treatment of IHES. Methods:The clinical materials, process of diagnosis and treatment and prognosis of 9 patients diagnosed as IHES with gastrointestinal manifestations were retrospectively analyzed. Results:The average age of 9 patients was (22.66± 12.86)years old,and the ratio of male and female was about 1.25∶ 1. The main clinical manifestations included abdominal pain,diarrhea and abdominal distension.The eosinophil percentages in peripheral blood and bone marrow of the patients were (42.66 ± 19.88 )% and (39.33 + 15.99 )%, respectively.The ascites exudate cytology examination showed eosinophil infiltrated.The results of gastroscope or colonoscope showed mucosal hyperemia and edema,scattered bleeding spots, and dark red granular hyperplasia; the colon was affected frecuently.The histological biopsy confirmed that the mucosal was infiltrated by eosinophils.The abdominal CT of 6 patients showed that the walls of stomach or bowel were thickened.The abdominal symptoms disappeared,and the ascites was absorpted in 9 patients after the treatment of glucocorticoid.After 2 years of follow up,2 patients had relapse, others had no recurrence.Conclusion:Performing the routine diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, the clinicians should consider the possibility of IHES in order to avoid the misdiagnosis and delayed treatment. When IHES is diagnosed,steroid treatment should be performed in preference.

Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the primary causes of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The use of antiviral drugs significantly reduces the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), but some of the patients who receive antiviral drugs for a long time still develop liver cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to early identify and predict the risk of liver cancer in such patients. Currently, several models for predicting the risk of liver cancer during antiviral therapy in CHB patients have been developed based on the risk factors such as liver cirrhosis, age, sex, liver stiffness, virology, serological markers, alcohol consumption, and history of diabetes, including REACH-B, PAGE-B, mPAGE-B, APA-B, CAMD, AASL, and REAL-B. This article reviews the research advances in the models for predicting the risk of liver cancer during antiviral therapy in CHB patients.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for the progression of acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF)associated with hepatitis B in elderly patients.Methods:A total of 168 elderly patients with hepatitis B-related acute-on-chronic liver failure(HBV-ACLF)at Tianjin Third Central Hospital who met the diagnostic criteria of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver(APASL)-ACLF were enrolled, 176 non-elderly HBV-ACLF patients served as the control group during the same period, and their baseline and progression data were recorded.At the same time, the elderly group was divided into the progressive subgroup and the non-progressive subgroup based on the diagnostic criteria of the European Society for the Study of the Liver(EASL)-ACLF, and their baseline and progression data were recorded.Independent risk factors for HBV-ACLF progression in the elderly were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional risk model regression.Results:Compared with non-elderly patients with HBV-ACLF, elderly patients were more likely to progress to meet the EASL-ACLF diagnostic criteria and have higher mortality.Multivariate Cox proportional risk model regression analysis showed that baseline arterial lactic acid levels( HR=1.77, 95% CI: 1.36-2.30, P<0.01), secondary nosocomial infections( HR=13.90, 95% CI: 3.73-51.87, P<0.01), rates of change in maximum total bilirubin( HR=1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.15, P=0.04), rates of change in maximum MELD( HR=4.06, 95% CI: 1.53-10.77, P=0.01)and rates of change in maximum CLIF-SOFA( HR=12.74, 95% CI: 2.46-66.08, P<0.01)were independent risk factors for progression of HBV-ACLF in elderly patients. Conclusions:Compared with non-elderly patients, elderly patients with HBV-ACLF have more advanced disease and higher mortality.Therefore, risk factors should be identified as soon as possible and treatment plans should be formulated as soon as possible to further reduce the mortality.

Objective:To explore the method of ultrasonography for detecting the fetal umbilical vein diameter, blood flow volume and normalized volume blood flow and establish normal reference ranges with umbilical vein diameter, blood flow volume and normalized blood flow and Z-scores for umbilical vein diameter and blood volume flow.Methods:This was a prospective study on 907 normal fetuses in the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University and Women and Children Healthcare Hospital of Zhuzhou from March 2019 to December 2020. The umbilical vein diameter (Duv), umbilical vein blood flow volume (Quv) and normalized volume blood flow (nQ = Quv/estimated fetal weight) of the free loop of umbilical vein (FUV) and fetal intra-abdominal umbilical vein (IUV) were collected. And the mean values and 90% confidence intervals of Duv, Quv and nQ in two segments of umbilical veins at different gestational ages were calculated. Regression analysis of Duv, Quv and nQ were performed with gestational age (GA), and the parameters of umbilical vein in different segments were compared. Finally, with gestational age (GA) as the independent variable, Z-scores of the Duv and Quv were built.Results:The mean values and 90% confidence intervals of Duv, Quv, and nQ in 858 (94.6%) normal fetal umbilical veins were successfully obtained. The Duv, Quv of the FUV and IUV increased as pregnancy progressed. The Quadratic curve of Duv and Linear curve of Quv were of the highest fitnesses, respectively( r=0.951, 0.941, 0.986, 0.982; all P<0.001). While nQ increased with GA followed by a decreased trend, and the Quadratic curve was the highest fitting curve of nQ( r=0.610, 0.611; all P<0.001). Duv-FUV was greater than Duv-IUV( P<0.001), nQ-FUV was bigger than Quv-IUV( P=0.001), and he difference was not statistically significant between Quv-FUV and Quv-IUV( P=0.133). Z-scores models of Duv and Quv were successfully established, and all Z-scores were Gaussian distribution. Conclusions:The normal ranges and Z-scores of umbilical vein parameters are useful to improve the evaluation of placental circulation and provide a strong basis for the monitoring of fetus-related diseases and the evaluation of pregnancy prognosis. The choice of FUV or IUV umbilical vein to evaluate placental circulation may depend on the actual situation in clinical application.

Objective:To analyze the predictive ability of model for end-stage liver disease (MELD)-sarcopenia score in short-term prognosis of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF).Methods:Two hundred and seventy-one patients with ACLF hospitalized in Tianjin Third Central Hospital from January 2013 to December 2019 were selected, among whom 157 cases with sarcopenia and 114 cases without sarcopenia.According to ACLF classification, the patients were divided into group A (no cirrhosis basis) of 61 cases, group B (compensated cirrhosis basis) of 99 cases, and group C (previous history of uncompensated cirrhosis) of 111 cases.The basic data, laboratory examination results, computed tomography (CT) examination results and prognosis of the patients were retrospectively collected, and the MELD score, MELD-Na score and MELD-sarcopenia score were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression, multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank method and area under receiver operating characteristic curve were used for statistical analysis.Results:Low body mass index (odds ratio ( OR)=0.93, P<0.001), complicated cirrhosis ( OR=1.14, P=0.004), complicated hepatic encephalopathy ( OR=1.31, P<0.001), high white blood cell level ( OR=1.18, P=0.009) and high platelet level ( OR=1.08, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for sarcopenia in patients with ACLF. High MELD score (hazard ratio ( HR)=1.02, P=0.001), high MELD-Na score ( HR=1.07, P=0.038), high MELD-sarcopenia score ( HR=1.14, P<0.001), high total bilirubin ( HR=1.00, P<0.001) and high international normalized ratio (INR) ( HR=1.71, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for death in patients with ACLF. In subgroup analysis, the cumulative survival rate of sarcopenia patients in group A and B was lower than that of non-sarcopenia patients ( χ2=5.97 and 8.34, respectively, P=0.015 and 0.004, respectively), while there was no significant difference in the cumulative survival rate between sarcopenia patients and non-sarcopenia patients in group C ( χ2=4.90, P=0.053). In groups A and B, the area under the curve (AUC) of MELD-sarcopenia score in predicting short-term prognosis was 0.87, which was higher than MELD score (0.78) and MELD-Na score (0.78), and the differences were both statistically significant ( Z=2.86 and 2.56, respectively, P=0.004 and 0.011, respectively). The AUC of MELD-Na score in predicting short-term prognosis in group C (0.83) was higher than that of MELD score (0.71) and MELD-sarcopenia score (0.69), and the differences were both statistically significant ( Z=2.52 and 2.64, respectively, P=0.012 and 0.008, respectively). Conclusions:Patients with ACLF with no cirrhosis basis or compensated cirrhosis basis complicated with sarcopenia have shorter survival time and worse prognosis than those without sarcopenia. For patients with ACLF with no cirrhosis basis or compensated cirrhosis basis, MELD-sarcopenia score has better predictive value for the short-term prognosis.

Objective To investigate the influencing factors for rebleeding after gastroscopy in patients with liver cirrhosis and esophagogastric variceal bleeding. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients with liver cirrhosis and esophagogastric variceal bleeding who were hospitalized in Tianjin Third Central Hospital from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018, and according to the presence or absence of rebleeding and bleeding time, the patients were divided into non-bleeding group ( n =148) and bleeding group ( n =119). The risk factors for rebleeding after gastroscopy were analyzed. The t -test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Cox regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the accuracy of Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) scores in predicting rebleeding after gastroscopy, and MedCalc was used to compare the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results A total of 267 patients with liver cirrhosis and esophagogastric variceal bleeding were enrolled, among whom 53 (19.9%) had liver cancer. A total of 119 patients suffered from rebleeding, with an overall rebleeding rate of 44.6% and a median time to rebleeding of 11.0 (0-39.0) months. The univariate Cox regression analysis showed that liver cancer (hazard ratio [ HR ]=0.377, P < 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ( HR =1.002, P =0.025), serum Na ( HR =0.935, P =0.004), and FIB-4 ( HR =1.030, P =0.049) were associated with rebleeding, and the multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that liver cancer ( HR =0.357, P < 0.001), AST ( HR =1.003, P =0.030), prothrombin time (PT) ( HR =0.196, P =0.001), CTP score ( HR =1.289, P =0.014), FIB-4 ( HR =1.062, P =0.033), and ALBI score ( HR =0.433, P =0.011) were independent risk factors for rebleeding. CTP, FIB-4, and ALBI scores had an AUC of 0.711 (95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 0.647-0.776), 0.705 (95% CI : 0.640-0.770), and 0.730 (95% CI : 0.667-0.793), respectively, in predicting rebleeding. There was no significant difference in AUC between CTP, FIB-4, and ALBI scores ( P > 0.05). Conclusion Liver cancer, AST, PT, CTP score, FIB-4 score, and ALBI score are associated with rebleeding after gastroscopy in patients with liver cirrhosis and esophagogastric variceal bleeding, among which CTP, FIB-4, and ALBI scores have a good value in predicting rebleeding outcome, while there is no significant difference in predictive ability between them.

Objective To assess the clinical characteristics of acute-on-chronic liver failure in patients with recompensatory hepatitis B cirrhosis. Methods A total of 180 patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure hospitalized in Tianjin Third Central Hospital from September 2013 to September 2021 were retrospectively collected, with 110 patients had compensatory hepatitis B cirrhosis and 70 patients had compensatory hepatitis B cirrhosis and used as the control. Their causes, clinical biochemical indicators, complication rate, and prognosis were compared. The Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical variables between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was performed for analysis of the continuous variables. Kaplan-Meier curves and Log-rank test were used for survival of patients. Results The incidence of hepatorenal syndrome ( χ 2 =4.618, P =0.032), infection ( χ 2 =6.712, P =0.010), Cr ( Z =-4.508, P < 0.001), and PCT ( Z =-2.052, P =0.040) were all higher, whereas GGT ( Z =-2.042, P =0.041), Na ( Z =-2.001, P =0.045), FBS ( Z =-3.065, P =0.002), and TC ( Z =-4.268, P < 0.001) were all lower in the recompensation group than in the control group of patients. However, 90-day mortality rate ( χ 2 =3.366, P =0.067) and 1-year mortality rate ( χ 2 =1.893, P =0.169), 90-day survival ( χ 2 =2.68, P =0.100), and 1-year survival ( χ 2 =2.074, P =0.150) were not statistically significant difference. Conclusion Compared with compensatory hepatitis B cirrhosis, patients with recompensatory cirrhosis had an increased risk in developing hepatorenal syndrome, infection, and increased creatinine level after acute-on-chronic liver failure, although there was no statistically significant difference in 90-days and 1-year survival of patients.