Medical procedures were common transmission risk factors; however, lifestyle-associated risk factors, including intravenous drug

abuse and tattoos or piercings, were more common in patients with HCV genotype 3 or 6. Most HCV-infected Han Chinese patients were IL28B genotype CC (rs12979860). HCV genotypes varied by geographic region, and disease characteristics differed according to HCV genotype. Relatively frequent detection of advanced liver disease may reflect limitations on access to antiviral Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor therapy, and suggests that greater awareness of factors that influence HCV-associated disease may help avoid clinical complications and improve patient outcomes. “
“Dynamic contrast imaging techniques are considered the standard of care for the radiological diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhosis. However, the accuracy of radiological diagnosis depends largely on the degree of arterial hypervascularization, which increases with tumor size. Owing to the interplay and prognostic relevance of tumor vascularization and cell differentation, we asked ourselves whether tumor grade also affects the outcome of radiological Atezolizumab diagnosis. Sixty-two HCCs (47 of which measured 1-2 cm) were consecutively detected in 59 patients with compensated cirrhosis under surveillance with ultrasound and confirmed by way of echo-guided biopsy and concurrent investigations with contrast-enhanced ultrasound

(CE-US), computed tomography (CT), and gadolinium magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Tumor cell differentiation was evaluated using Edmondson-Steiner criteria in liver cores of 0.9-5.0 cm (median 1.6 cm). Eighteen (29%) HCCs were grade I (1.5 cm), 28 (45%) were grade II (1.5 cm), 16 (26%) were grade III (1.8 MCE cm), and none were grade

IV. Contrast wash-in and wash-out were concurrently demonstrated in 21 (34%) tumors by way of CE-US, including three (16%) grade I and 18 (41%) grade II-III (P = 0.08); in 32 (52%) tumors by way of CT, including three (16%) grade I and 29 (66%) grade II-III (P = 0.0006); and 28 (47%) tumors by way of MRI, including three grade I (16%) and 25 (57%) grade II-III (P = 0.01). Among 1- to 2-cm tumors, the radiological diagnosis was achieved in two of 16 grade I and 17of 31 grade II-III tumors (P = 0.006). Conclusion: Tumor grade, a relevant predictor of disease severity, influences the accuracy of dynamic contrast techniques in the diagnosis of HCC. HEPATOLOGY 2010 Surveillance with abdominal ultrasound (US) of patients with cirrhosis, who are at risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is the standard of care to detect small, potentially curable tumors.1 A standardized recall policy for liver nodules detected on US examination has been established that uses dynamic contrast imaging techniques to show the pathognomonic pattern of contrast wash-in in the arterial phase followed by wash-out in the venous phase.