Viraemia persistently ≤20 000-IU/mL predicts a benign clinical outcome: it was associated with transition to IC in 43% of LV-AC and to Occult HBV Infection in 20% of IC within 5-years. Nevertheless, 13.1% of individuals with low viraemia at presentation develops CHB within 1 year: 1-year HBV-DNA monitoring resulted the most accurate diagnostic approach that can be limited to at least a half of cases by the single point HBV-DNA/HBsAg quantification. The IC-diagnostic-accuracy combining HBV-DNA/total-anti-HBc/HBcrAg needs to be confirmed in further studies.

Aim/hypothesis Renal resistive index is a useful measure for quantifying alterations in renal blood flow. In the present study we evaluated resistive index at baseline and after vasodilation induced by nitroglycerine in normoalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes or essential hypertension, relating the values to indices of systemic vascular dysfunction. Methods Newly diagnosed treatment-naïve type 2 diabetic (n=32) and hypertensive patients (n=49) were compared with 27 age-and sex-matched healthy controls. Renal resistive index was obtained by duplex ultrasound at baseline and after 25 μg sublingual nitroglycerine. Endothelium-dependent (flow-mediated dilation) and -independent (response to nitroglycerine) vasodilation in the brachial artery was assessed by computerised edge detection system. Carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity and augmentation index were assessed by applanation tonometry. Nitrotyrosine levels, an index of oxidative stress, were also measured. Results Resistive index was higher in diabetic than in hypertensive patients and controls (p < 0.001), while changes in resistive index induced by nitroglycerine were lower in hypertensive patients compared with controls (p< 0.01), and were further reduced in type 2 diabetic patients. Hypertensive and diabetic patients showed significantly increased arterial stiffness, nitrotyrosine levels and reduced endothelial function than controls (p<0.05). Changes in resistive index induced by nitroglycerine were independently related to serum glucose, reactive hyperaemia and aortic pulse-wave velocity in the overall population. Conclusions/interpretation These results support the dynamic evaluation of renal resistive index as an early detector of renal vascular alterations in the presence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension, even before the onset of microalbuminuria.

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Endocytoscopy provides real-time histological images in vivo, with clear visualization of cellular details and features of dysplasia in colorectal ACF.