ELF panel is a good noninvasive fibrosis marker and showed similar results to TE in CHC patients. However, new cutoff points need to be established to improve its performance on patients with CHC.

Background The natural outcome of infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) varies substantially among individuals. However, little is known about host and viral factors associated with a self-limiting or chronic evolution of HCV infection. Methods From 1 January 2001 through 31 December 2008, a consecutive series of 65 patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a well-documented diagnosis of acute HCV infection, acquired via various routes, were enrolled in this study. Patients were prospectively followed up for a median of 40 months after the estimated date of HCV infection with serial measurements of serum alanine aminotransferase, HCV RNA, and anti-HCV antibodies. Spontaneous viral clearance (SVC) was defined as undetectable levels of HCV RNA in serum, in the absence of treatment, for 3 consecutive HCV polymerase chain reaction tests within the first 6 months of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify host and viral predictors of SVC. Results The cumulative rate of SVC was 44.6% (95% confidence interval, 32.3%–57.5%). Compared with chronic HCV evolution, patients with self-limiting disease had significantly lower peak levels of anti-HCV antibodies (median, 109.0 vs 86.7 optical density–to–cutoff ratio [od/co]; P < .02), experienced disease symptoms more frequently (69.4% vs 100%; P < .001), and had lower viral load at first clinical presentation (median, 4.3 vs 0.0 log copies; P =.01). In multivariate analyses, low peak anti-HCV level (<93.5 od/co) was the only independent predictor for SVC; the hazard ratio compared with high anti-HCV levels (≥93.5 od/co) was 2.62 (95% confidence interval, 1.11–6.19; P =.03). Conclusion Our data suggest that low levels of anti-HCV antibodies during the acute phase of HCV infection are independently related to spontaneous viral clearance.

Liver stiffness may be a useful tool to differentiate portal hypertension related to cirrhosis from that of HES. High spleen stiffness is a potential surrogate marker of portal hypertension in this population.

No abstract

The finding that splenic atrophy is associated with a high complication rate in colitis has led to a long-term, prospective study of spleen size in inflammatory bowel disease. The spleen has been measured in 116 patients undergoing laparotomy for inflammatory bowel disease--80 Crohn's disease and 36 ulcerative colitis--from 1975 to 1985. Small spleen size, of lesser degree than that of classic splenic atrophy, is associated with presurgery disease complications as well as infective problems after surgery. Spleen size was not related to site or extent of disease, or to recurrence, but the wide range of spleen size seen in inflammatory bowel disease, comparable to that seen in malignancy suggests that more sophisticated tests of splenic function might show a closer correlation with disease patterns.