CHB patients with a high viral load, more than 7 log log(10) IU/mL, are related to the occurrence of PVR during ETV monotherapy. Long-term ETV monotherapy may be effective for suppressing serum HBV DNA levels in treatment- naïve CHB patients with a PVR to ETV.

Ethylene glycol (EG) is a sweet-tasting, odorless organic solvent found in many agents, such as anti-freeze. EG is composed of four organic acids: glycoaldehyde, glycolic acid, glyoxylic acid and oxalic acid in vivo. These metabolites are cellular toxins that can cause cardio-pulmonary failure, life-threatening metabolic acidosis, central nervous system depression, and kidney injury. Oxalic acid is the end product of EG, which can precipitate to crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate in the tubular lumen and has been linked to acute kidney injury. We report a case of EG-induced oxalate nephropathy, with the diagnosis confirmed by kidney biopsy, which showed acute tubular injury of the kidneys with extensive intracellular and intraluminal calcium oxalate monohydrate crystal depositions.

Background/Aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second-most common primary liver malignancy, arising from the peripheral intrahepatic bile duct epithelium. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be involved in the development of ICC. We explored the prognostic value of hepatitis virus infection, as well as other prognostic factors affecting survival in patients with ICC. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for patients diagnosed with ICC between August 2005 and December 2018 at Konkuk University Medical Center. We identified a total of 131 patients with ICC. Overall survival rates of patients with and without hepatitis were determined. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate factors influencing survival outcomes. Results: A total of 17.6% (23/131) of patients were positive for HBV or HCV. Hepatitis B positive ICC patients were significantly younger with higher albumin and higher α-fetoprotein than those without hepatitis viral infections. The median survival of hepatitis-positive and hepatitis-negative groups was 280 and 213 days, respectively. Survival rates were not significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.279). Multivariate analyses indicated that lower serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) (p < 0.001), lower T stage (p = 0.042), the absence of lymph-node metastasis (p = 0.043), and receiving curative surgery (p = 0.033) were independent predictors of better outcomes. Conclusions: While hepatitis influenced a number of clinical features in ICC patients, it did not affect survival rate. Prognostic factors influencing survival outcomes with ICC were CA 19-9 level, T stage, the presence of lymph node metastasis, and curative surgery.

APRI and FIB-4 may be more useful than HBV DNA level in predicting 5-year mortality and development of HCC.