Scientific Research
This page is in a'blog' format with the latest scientific PSC research identified by Google Scholar, Readbyqmx.com and other sources added regularly.

Evangelos Kalaitzakis, Maria Benito de Valle, Monira Rahman, Björn Lindkvist, Einar Björnsson, Roger Chapman, Nick Kontodimopoulos

PURPOSE: 
The chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) is a frequently used liver-specific quality of life instrument, but it does not provide information on preference-adjusted health status, which is essential for cost-utility analysis. We aimed to develop a mapping function deriving utilities from the CLDQ in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

METHODS: 
​Short form-6D (SF-6D) utilities were calculated from SF-36 data collected in a recent prospective study in which unselected patients with PSC also completed the CLDQ ... please click here to read the abstract.

Quality of Life Research 2015 October 15

Suguru Mizuno, Kenji Hirano,  Hiroyuki Isayama, Takeo Watanabe, Natsuyo Yamamoto, Yousuke Nakai, Naoki Sasahira, Minoru Tada, Masao Omata and Kazuhiko Koike

Abstract
Background:
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic disease. Medical treatments must be devised to avoid or postpone liver transplantation in PSC patients. No clinical trial has prospectively explored the efficacy of bezafibrate in PSC patients.

Methods:
We conducted a prospective study of 12-week bezafibrate treatment, with pre- and post-treatment observation periods, in PSC patients. Bezafibrate was prescribed at 200 mg b.i.d. The primary endpoint was defined as improvements in liver function test (LFT) data after bezafibrate treatment ... Please click here to read the remainder of the abstract.

Article first published online: 21 AUG 2015
DOI: 10.1002/jhbp.281
© 2015 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery

David Al Dulaimi
Department of Gastroenterology, Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, UK 

This link will take you to a number of synopsis of recent papers considering the advances of knowledge in inflammatory bowel disease.

​Papers were prepared by:
Drs Luke Materacki and Ishfaq Ahmad, Alexandra Hospital, UK

Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 2014;8(4):313-315 

Tatiana Hildebrand, Nadine Pannicke, Alexander Dechene, Daniel N Gotthardt, Gabriele Kirchner, Florian P Reiter, Martina Sterneck, Kerstin Herzer, Henrike Lenzen, Christian Rupp, Hannelore Barg-Hock, Philipp de Leuw, Andreas Teufel, Vincent Zimmer, Frank Lammert, Christoph Sarrazin, Ulrich Spengler, Christian Rust, Michael P Manns, Christian P Strassburg, Christoph Schramm, Tobias J Weismüller

Liver transplantation (LT) is the only definitive treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease due to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) but a high rate of biliary strictures (BS) and of recurrence (recPSC) has been reported. In this multicenter study we analyzed a large patient cohort with a long follow-up in order to evaluate the incidence of BS and of recPSC, to assess the impact on survival after LT and to identify risk factors ... Please click here to read the remainder of the abstract.

Under this abstract there are a number of related papers which can be accessed from this page.

R S Goertz
Der Radiologe 2015 October 5

Noninvasive, ultrasound-based methods for visualizing and measuring tissue elasticity are becoming more and more common in routine practice. Using hepatic shear wave elastography, cut-off levels can help to detect the degree of relevant fibrosis (F ≥ 2) with a diagnostic accuracy using the area under the reader operating characteristic (AUROC) of 87 % and cirrhosis (F = 4, AUROC 93 %). Normal values virtually exclude liver cirrhosis (negative predictive value up to 97 %) and high shear wave velocities predict complications in the course of primary sclerosing cholangitis ... please click here to read the remainder of the abstract

Journal of Gastroenterology and HepatologySpecial Issue

Abstracts of Gastro 2015 GESA-AGW and WGO International Congress, Gastroenterological Society of Australia Australian Gastroenterology Week 2015 | World Congress of Gastroenterology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 28 September-2 October 2015

Abstracts include:

• Outcomes post-liver transplant for primary sclerosing cholangitis: colitis activity and malignancy
• Colonic ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease: an accurate marker of disease activity and mucosal healing
• The evolution of indications and outcomes of surgery for patients with Crohn's disease during the biological agent era
• Inflammatory bowel disease: a statewide incidence and prevalence study in Tasmania, Australia​

Please click here to view these and further abstracts: 

Volume 30,  Issue Supplement S3, pages 117–148, September 2015