LIVER BIOPSY: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIMEN SIZE IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND STAGING OF CHRONIC VIRAL HEPATITIS

Liver biopsy is the gold standard method for the grading and staging of chronic viral hepatitis, but optimal biopsy specimen size remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of liver specimen (number of portal tracts) and to evaluate the impact of the number of portal tracts in the staging of chronic hepatitis. Material and Methods: 468 liver biopsies from consecutive patients with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus infection from 2009 to 2010 were evaluated. Results: The length of fragment was less than 10 mm in 43 cases (9.3%), between 10 and 14 mm in 114 (24.3%), and ≥ 15 mm in 311 (64.4%); of these, in 39 (8.3%) cases were ≥ 20 mm. The mean representation of portal tracts was 17.6 ± 2.1 (5-40); in specimens ≥ 15 mm the mean portal tract was 13.5 ± 4.7 and in cases ≤ 15 mm was 11.4 ± 5.0 (p = 0.002). Cases with less than 11 portal tracts were associated with F3, and cases with 11 or more portal tracts with F2 (p = 0.001). Conclusion: this study demonstrated the good quality of liver biopsy and a relationship between the macroscopic size of the fragment and the number of portal tracts

Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first-year college students: First cross-national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Although mental disorders and suicidal thoughts-behaviors (suicidal thoughts and behaviors) are common among university students, the majority of students with these problems remain untreated. It is unclear what the barriers are to these students seeking treatment. AIMS: The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to future help-seeking and the associations of clinical characteristics with these barriers in a cross-national sample of first-year college students. METHOD: As part of the World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative, web-based self-report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first-year students in eight countries across the world. Clinical characteristics examined included screens for common mental disorders and reports about suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Multivariate regression models adjusted for socio-demographic, college-, and treatment-related variables were used to examine correlates of help-seeking intention and barriers to seeking treatment. RESULTS: Only 24.6% of students reported that they would definitely seek treatment if they had a future emotional problem. The most commonly reported reasons not to seek treatment among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help were the preference to handle the problem alone (56.4%) and wanting to talk with friends or relatives instead (48.0%). Preference to handle the problem alone and feeling too embarrassed were also associated with significantly reduced odds of having at least some intention to seek help among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help. Having 12-month major depression, alcohol use disorder, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were also associated with significantly reduced reported odds of the latter outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of first-year college students in the WMH-ICS surveys report that they would be hesitant to seek help in case of future emotional problems. Attitudinal barriers and not structural barriers were found to be the most important reported reasons for this hesitation. Experimental research is needed to determine whether intention to seek help and, more importantly, actual help-seeking behavior could be increased with the extent to which intervention strategies need to be tailored to particular student characteristics. Given that the preference to handle problems alone and stigma and appear to be critical, there could be value in determining if internet-based psychological treatments, which can be accessed privately and are often build as self-help approaches, would be more acceptable than other types of treatments to student who report hesitation about seeking treatment.status: publishe

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Infecção bacteriana no paciente cirrótico

RACIONAL: Em torno de 30% dos pacientes com cirrose hepática apresentam infecção bacteriana na admissão hospitalar ou a desenvolvem durante a mesma. As infecções bacterianas são responsáveis por até 25% das mortes nesta população de pacientes. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a prevalência de infecção bacteriana em uma população de pacientes cirróticos internados em hospital geral, bem como correlacionar sua presença com a etiologia alcoólica da hepatopatia, com o grau de comprometimento da função hepática e com a presença de hemorragia digestiva alta. PACIENTES E MÉTODOS: Foram avaliadas retrospectivamente 541 internações hospitalares consecutivas em 426 pacientes com cirrose hepática, internados no período de 1992 a 2000. A média de idade destes pacientes foi de 50,5 anos (15-95), sendo 71,2% do sexo masculino. Etiologia alcoólica da hepatopatia esteve presente em 35,4% dos pacientes. Alta ou óbito do paciente no período da internação hospitalar foi considerado como principal desfecho. O nível de significância considerado na análise estatística foi de 5%. RESULTADOS: As infecções bacterianas ocorreram em 25% dos cirróticos (135 episódios). Destas, as mais freqüentes foram: a infecção do trato urinário em 31,1%, a peritonite bacteriana espontânea em 25,9% e a broncopneumonia em 25,2%. Ocorreu associação de infecção urinária e broncopneumonia em 3,7% e infecção de pele e tecido celular subcutâneo em 11,11%. Bacteremia sem foco definido ocorreu nos quatro casos restantes (2,9%). Houve associação da presença de infecção com a etiologia alcoólica da hepatopatia, com a classificação de Child-Pugh e com a ocorrência de hemorragia digestiva alta. A mortalidade hospitalar foi maior nos pacientes infectados (8,9%), estando a mesma associada ao grau de disfunção hepatocelular. CONCLUSÕES: A ocorrência de infecção bacteriana no paciente cirrótico hospitalizado é freqüente e correlaciona-se com a etiologia alcoólica da hepatopatia, com a reserva funcional hepática e com a presença de sangramento digestivo. Além disso, a presença de infecção bacteriana correlaciona-se com mau prognóstico

Alcohol Consumption Influences Clinical Outcome in Patients Admitted to a Referral Center for Liver Disease

Introduction and aim. Excessive alcohol consumption is a public health concern worldwide and has been associated with high mortality rates. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption and its influence on the prognosis of hospitalized cirrhotic patients in a tertiary care hospital.Material and methods. We reviewed the medical records of all patients with hepatic cirrhosis admitted between January 2009 and December 2014, in a referral center for liver disease in southern Brazil. Data on clinical outcomes, associated conditions, infections, and mortality were collected and compared between alcoholic and nonalcoholic patients.Results. The sample consisted of 388 patients; 259 (66.7%) were men. One hundred fifty-two (39.2%) were classified as heavy use of alcohol. Most alcoholic patients were men (n = 144; 94.7%). Mean age was 55.6 ± 8.9 years. Hepatic decompensations and infections were more prevalent in alcoholic patient. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and respiratory tract infection accounted for most of the infections. Excessive alcohol consumption was associated with mortality (P = 0.009) in multivariate analysis.Conclusion. On the present study, the prevalence of heavy use of alcohol was high and associated with a poorer prognosis in hospitalized cirrhotic patients, increasing the risk of infection and death