Background and Aim
Histological score systems may not fully capture the essential nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) features, which is one of the leading causes of screening failure in clinical trials. We assessed the NASH distribution and its components across the fibrosis stages and their impact on the prognosis and their relationship with the concept of metabolic‐associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).
Methods
Spanish multicenter study including 1893 biopsy‐proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients from HEPAmet registry. NASH was diagnosed by NAS score ≥4 (including steatosis, ballooning and lobular inflammation) and fibrosis by Kleiner score. The presence of MAFLD was determined. Progression to cirrhosis, first episode of decompensated cirrhosis and death were collected during the follow‐up (4.7 ± 3.8 years).
Results
Fibrosis was F0 34.3% (649/1893), F1 27% (511/1893), F2 16.5% (312/1893), F3 15% (284/1893) and F4 7.2% (137/1893). NASH diagnosis 51.9% (982/1893), and its individual components (severe steatosis, ballooning and lobular inflammation), increased from F0 (33.6%) to F2 (68.6%), and decreased significantly in F4 patients (51.8%) (P = .0001). More than 70% of non‐NASH patients showed some inflammatory activity (ballooning or lobular inflammation), showing a similar MAFLD rate than NASH (96.2% [945/982] vs. 95.2% [535/562]) and significantly higher than nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) subjects (89.1% [311/349]) (P < .0001). Progression to cirrhosis was similar between NASH (9.5% [51/539]) and indeterminate NASH (7.9% [25/316]), and higher than steatosis (5% [14/263]) (logRank 8.417; P = .015). Death and decompensated cirrhosis were similar between these.
Conclusions
The prevalence of steatohepatitis decreased in advanced liver disease. However, most of these patients showed some inflammatory activity histologically and had metabolic disturbances. These findings should be considered in clinical trials whose main aim is to prevent cirrhosis progression and complications, liver transplant and death.
Platelet count in cirrhosis is associated mainly to spleen volume, although portal hypertension as estimated by HVPG and liver function plays a significant role in compensated patients. H-TPO and the proportion of patients with P-TPO > H-TPO were associated to the presence and severity of liver disease.
Implementation of a computerized decision support system for CT scan requests for non-traumatic headache in the emergency department Background: Non-traumatic headache is a frequent complaint in the emergency department (ED). Cranial computed tomography (CT) is a widely available test for the diagnostic work-up, despite the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation. Objectives: To develop and evaluate a cranial CT request computerized decision support system (CDSS) for adults with first presentation of unusual severe nontraumatic headache in the ED. Methods: Electronic database searches identified clinical decision and prediction rules, and studies delineating risk factors in non-traumatic headache. A long list of risk factors extracted from these articles was reduced by a 30-member multidisciplinary expert panel (radiologists, emergency physicians, methodologists), using a 90% agreement threshold. This shortlist was used to develop the algorithm for the cranial CT request CDSS, which was implemented in March 2016. Impact evaluation compared CT scan frequency and diagnostic yield of pathologic findings before (March-August 2015) and after (March-August 2016) implementation.Results: From the 10 selected studies, 10 risk factors were shortlisted to activate a request for cranial CT. Before implementation, 377 cranial CTs were ordered (15.3% of 2,469 CT) compared to 244 after (9.5% of 2,561 CTs) (pre-post difference 5.74%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.92 to 7.56%; p <0.001), corresponding to a 37.6% relative reduction in test ordering rate (95% CI 25.7 to 49.5%; p<0.001). Despite the reduction *Manuscript (should NOT contain any author details) Click here to view linked References in cranial CT scans, we did not observe an increase in pathological findings after introducing the decision support system (70 cases before, 18.5%, vs 35 cases after, 14.3%; pre-post difference -4.0%; 95% CI -10.0 to 1.6%; p = 0.170).
Conclusion:In non-traumatic headache among adults seen in the ED, CDSS decreased the cranial CT request rate although the diagnostic yield did not improve.
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