Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with multiple extrahepatic manifestations that may impact infected patients. The mechanisms through which these develop include those which are immunological, in which the chronic persistence of virus leads to the circulation of immune complexes (mixed cryoglobulinemia) and other autoimmune phenomena, and those which are virological and related to the extrahepatic tropism of the virus to other tissues. It is estimated that 40–74 % of patients with CHC may develop at least one extrahepatic manifestation during the course of the disease. Extrahepatic syndromes may represent the first signal of hepatitis C infection in some patients. CHC is associated with a four-fold increased risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus; with cardiovascular disease in 17–37 % of patients; and with increased risk for cerebrovascular deaths, with a biological gradient of cerebrovascular mortality correlating with an increasing serum viral load. CHC is also associated with lymphoproliferative disorders, particularly non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. The kidney is involved in 35–60 % of patients with CHC-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia. The prevalent type of glomerulonephritis associated with mixed cryoglobulinemia is membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. In 30 % of cases, renal involvement begins with a nephritis syndrome and acute renal failure, while in 55 % there is only mild hematuria, microalbuminuria, proteinuria and renal insufficiency. CHC is also associated with cognitive impairment, especially in memory and concentration. Thus, extrahepatic CHC manifestations involve multiple organ systems outside the liver linked to a variety of comorbidities which may lead to significantly increased mortality from non-liver-related events.
Protocol-driven management of intracranial pressure in FLF can result in good clinical outcomes in most transplant candidates, even if IHTN occurs.
Balamuthia can be transmitted through organ transplantation with an observed incubation time of 17-24 days. Clinicians should be aware of Balamuthia as a cause of encephalitis with high rate of fatality, and should notify public health departments and evaluate transplant recipients from donors with signs of possible encephalitis to facilitate early diagnosis and targeted treatment. Organ procurement organizations and transplant centers should be aware of the potential for Balamuthia infection in donors with possible encephalitis and also assess donors carefully for signs of neurologic infection that may have been misdiagnosed as stroke or as noninfectious forms of encephalitis.
In this review we critically assess the literature to evaluate the level of risk posed by alcohol as both a primary etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and as a cofactor in its development. Although there have been conflicting findings, based on the body of evidence to date, it appears that the linkage between compensated alcoholic liver disease-associated cirrhosis and HCC is best characterized as medium-high risk, with the risk increasing with age and with quantity and duration of alcohol consumption and is more pronounced in females. While abstinence is the most effective way to reduce HCC risk, its effect seems largely dependent on the severity of liver damage at the point of cessation. Alcohol clearly interacts with other etiologies and conditions including viral hepatitis B and C, hereditary hemochromatosis, diabetes, and obesity to increase the risk for developing HCC, either synergistically or additively. Continued progress in genetics, especially through mechanistic-based and genome-wide association studies may ultimately identify which single nucleotide polymorphisms are risk factors for the onset of alcoholic liver disease and its progression to HCC and lead to the development of targeted therapeutics which may help providers better manage at-risk patients.
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