Active clinical trials for "Liver Diseases"

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has gained popularity in medicine over the last decade. Once 3D printers have become more affordable, the true strength of this technique has been recognized because of its ability to obtain anatomical models based on the unique characteristics of each patient. Liver resections are challenging operations because of the complex nature of the liver and venous anatomy within the liver, so 3D imaging is a promising new tool for surgical planning.

A defect of the immune response has been described in patients with severe liver disease. This immune-paresis is partly driven by a compensatory anti-inflammatory response following a systemic inflammatory response syndrome and affects the innate immune response. The innate immune defect has been described in patients with advanced cirrhosis and more significantly in patients with acute liver failure or acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF). The monocytes/macrophages pro-inflammatory response and finally the antimicrobial response are thus strongly impaired, leading to higher sepsis risk. The monocytes/macrophages phenotype associated with these functional alterations has been widely described, with a weaker expression of Human Leukocyte Antigen - DR isotype (HLA-DR) on the monocytes surface, correlated with poor outcomes. The low monocytic expression of HLA-DR, its functional and clinical impact has been widely described in the context of septic shock with similar pathophysiological mechanisms. Liver transplantation (LT) is often the only therapeutic option for patients with advanced liver failure. Post-transplant survival of the most severe patients is similar to the survival in the whole population of LT patients, but the complication rate remains higher, with a major risk of infection. Currently used immunosuppression protocols do not take into account the quality of pre-transplant immune response. Some treatments, such as corticosteroids, which are widely used for the induction of post-transplant immunosuppression, may affect the innate immune response. However, it has been shown that low expression of post-transplant monocyte HLA-DR was associated with a greater risk of septic complication. The general objective of this study is to focus on the evolution of a robust marker of immune dysfunction, HLA-DR monocyte expression, before and following LT, and to analyse its post LT expression depending on the level of pre-transplant expression as well as its association with post-transplant complications. This study will bring new insights for the design of a prospective study on the relevance of adapting post-transplant immunosuppression protocols to HLA-DR expression on monocytes surface, which is a robust marker of the innate immune response. Evaluation of innate immune dysfunction pre-LT by quantification of monocytic HLA-DR expression and monitoring of its post-LT kinetics may be relevant for assessing post-transplant immune status and adapting immunosuppressive therapy. A descriptive, observational study associating clinical and biological data is needed to confirm the relevance of HLA-DR expression quantification on the surface of monocytes in a population of selected patients, before and after LT. These data will allow setting up a prospective interventional study reporting the possible benefit of post-transplant immunosuppressive treatment modulation, according to the HLA-DR monocyte dosage and its kinetics evolution. The main objective of this study is to describe the association between evolution of monocytic HLA-DR expression on monocytes/macrophages surface during the first month after LT and the occurrence of one of the 2 following clinical events reflecting a post LT immune dysfunction (acute cell rejection and sepsis).

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is being recognized as one of the most prevalent causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. The current strategy proposed by the EASL/EASO/EASD European guidelines for the screening of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in high-risk population such as type 2 diabetes and patients with obesity leads to an over-referral in hepatology clinics. The proposed study will investigate the optimal strategy for the screening of NAFLD-related advanced fibrosis in patients at high risk of fibrotic NAFLD, such as patients with T2DM or obesity by maximizing the positive predictive value (PPV) using non-invasive blood and elastography-based biomarkers in endocrinology/diabetology clinics in order to reduce the over-referral to hepatology clinics.

Mental disorders have been shown to be associated with a number of general medical conditions (also referred to as somatic or physical conditions). The investigators aim to undertake a comprehensive study of comorbidity among those with treated mental disorders, by using high-quality Danish registers to provide age- and sex-specific pairwise estimates between the ten groups of mental disorders and nine groups of general medical conditions. The investigators will examine the association between all 90 possible pairs of prior mental disorders and later GMC categories using the Danish national registers. Depending on whether individuals are diagnosed with a specific mental disorder, the investigators will estimate the risk of receiving a later diagnosis within a specific GMC category, between the start of follow-up (January 1, 2000) or at the earliest age at which a person might develop the mental disorder, whichever comes later. Follow-up will be terminated at onset of the GMC, death, emigration from Denmark, or December 31, 2016, whichever came first. Additionally for dyslipidemia, follow-up will be ended if a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease was received. A "wash-out" period will be employed in the five years before follow-up started (1995-1999), to identify and exclude prevalent cases from the analysis. Individuals with the GMC of interest before the observation period will be considered prevalent cases and excluded from the analyses (i.e. prevalent cases were "washed-out"). When estimating the risk of a specific GMC, the investigators will consider all individuals to be exposed or unexposed to the each mental disorder depending on whether a diagnosis is received before the end of follow-up. Persons will be considered unexposed to a mental disorder until the date of the first diagnosis, and exposed thereafter.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in developed countries affecting approximately 30 % of the general adult population. It represents an important pathogenic factor in the development of type 2-diabetes and is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Previous studies of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have demonstrated an increased risk for NAFLD and the presence of both CKD and NAFLD is likely to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. The present protocol describes a study of the prevalence and etiology of NAFLD among patients with type 2-diabetes with CKD. The study is a cross-sectional study. Fat accumulation in the liver will be determined by Magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and the prevalence of NAFLD among patients with type 2-diabetes with normal kidney function or CKD stage 3-5 will be investigated. A continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for four days, Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning, fibro scanning of the liver, bile acid analysis, metabolomic and lipidomic analysis will also be performed.

To build a registry of diabetic volunteers by inviting them to get a LiverMultiScan and collecting their contact information to seek interest in participating in future research studies.

The concept of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) was introduced by Jalan and Williams in 2002 to describe the acute deterioration in liver function over 2 to 4 weeks in a patient with well-compensated cirrhosis associated with a precipitating event (hepatotoxic: superimposed hepatitis viral infection, drug-induced liver injury, hepatotoxins, or excessive alcohol consumption; extra hepatic: variceal bleeding or sepsis), leading to severe deterioration in clinical status with jaundice and hepatic encephalopathy and/or HRS. Following this concept, several proposals for the diagnostic criteria of ACLF have been suggested.

The aims of this study are to assess the performance of the non-invasive Electrical Impedance Technology (EIT) in evaluating the liver fibrosis stage in patients with chronic liver diseases, in comparisons with a liver biopsy and/or Shear wave elastography and Liver Ultrasonography. The second aim is comparing between Liver Ultrasonography and Electrical Impedance Technology (EIT) to quantify the hepatic steatosis grade in patients with Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) .

Evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the new ultrasound software vs hepatic histology, the current reference standard for the diagnosis of NAFLD and NASH in 20 obese patients (BMI> 30) candidates for laparoscopic bariatric surgery and / or cholecystectomy

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a highly prevalent condition, and when fatty liver is associated with inflammation and hepatocellular injury (steatohepatitis), it can lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for NAFLD assessment but has several drawbacks. Several drugs for NASH are now in phase 2-3 trials, and if medical treatments become available, non-invasive tools to identify patients who may benefit from a therapeutic intervention will be strongly needed. Some imaging methods have shown promising potential in fibrosis and NASH diagnosis. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive imaging methods, including ultrasound (US) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) techniques, in diagnosing NASH and fibrosis in patients with or at high risk of NAFLD, using liver biopsy as the reference standard. Consecutive patients with a clinical indication for liver biopsy assessment of NAFLD are enrolled in this non-inferiority study. They undergo both a liver US and a multiparametric unenhanced liver MR examination. As reference standard, histological diagnosis of fibrosis and steatohepatitis made according to the fatty liver inhibition of progression (FLIP) algorithm is used. Sensitivity and specificity of imaging parameters alone or in different combinations will be calculated with the aim of finding one or more tests with at least 90% sensitivity/specificity compared to liver biopsy.