Archives of Gastroenterology Research

A 67-year-old female with a history of arterial hypertension and previous hysterectomy, was recovered, in July 2019, for moderately-severe acute biliary pancreatitis with evidence of stones in gallbladder and bile duct and pancreatic necrosis on imaging (Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography. A contrast enhanced CT, a week after the admission, showed necrotic areas in the pancreas and a large peripancreatic fluid collection (60 mm long) with air pockets within (acute necrotic collection, with signs of infection. Since she was haemodynamically stable and there was no evidence of organ failure, according to “step-up approach”, she was managed medically with antibiotics (piperacillin-tazobactam + metronidazole) and fluids.

Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response in which a variety of cells and factors are involved in and results in excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM). Cirrhosis is one of the significant causes of portal hypertension and end-stage liver disease, and it is the 14th most common cause of death around the world. Approximately 1.03 million people worldwide die from liver cirrhosis every year.

There is growing body of literature to identify novel prognostic markers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including serum ferritin (SF), transferrin levels, alfa fetoprotein (AFP), and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Chronic inflammation and fibrogenesis are considered quite essential in the oncogenesis of HCC. The trigger for this inflammation could range from viral hepatitis, alcoholic cirrhosis, to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Also, iron overload as in hereditary hemochromatosis is linked to one of the factors for HCC oncogenesis.

Medullary breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare tumor, representing 3% to 5% of invasive breast carcinomas. The World Health Organization defines it as a well-circumscribed invasive tumor, composed of poorly differentiated cells, arranged in sheets, without gland formation and a scarce collagen stroma with the presence of a very prominent lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate.

Cervix uteri carcinoma is the most common gynecological cancer worldwide. In addition, it is the fourth most common malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women [1]. The most common histopathological subtype is squamous cell carcinoma (85%).

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer related death in the United States with mortality rates surpassing breast, prostate, brain, and colorectal cancers combined. Recent data shows that susceptibility for both men and women for developing invasive lung and bronchogenic carcinoma peak after the age of 70 years.

Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the urinary bladder is a rare histological type shows poor differentiation and behaves in a highly aggressive manner. It accounts to 0.3- 0.7% of all bladder tumors [1,2]. Neuroendocrine carcinomas predominantly occur in respiratory and gastrointestinal tract and very rarely in the urinary bladder.

Endometriosis is a chronic, hormone-dependent, inflammatory disease, characterized by the presence and growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity and it is associated with chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Worldwide, approximately 176 million women between the ages of 15 and 49 are affected by endometriosis. Endometriosis is a complex disease that induces a chronic inflammatory process and can be challenging to treat. Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is defined as pelvic pain lasting greater than three to six months that is not solely related to menstruation, sexual activity or bowel movements.

In 2020 we published a series of 18 patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and vaginal radical trachelectomy (VRT) as a fertility sparing alternative in stage 1B2 cervical cancer.

Robot assisted gynaecological surgery is exponentially expanding its field and gynaecologists need to be prepared to implement this new approach in clinical practice.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronically infects more than 250 million individuals worldwide and is responsible for more than 800,000 deaths per year by promoting end-stage liver diseases, among which decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (WHO, July 2020) are prominent. Studies performed in chimpanzees or in animalversion of HBV (woodchuck HBV: WHBV) highlighted the lack of immune responses against the virus upon primary infection. Thus, HBV has been described as a “stealth” virus (i.e. a virus that does not modify/induce immune response in the cell). However, a growing number of studies describe that HBV is able to rapidly and efficiently counteract the innate immune response in a large variety of cells (hepatocytes, macrophages, Natural Killer cell…). Hereby, we focus on the role of macrophages (Mφ) during HBV infection.

The local and peritoneal recurrence play a vital role in the natural history of the evolution of gastrointestinal and ovarian neoplasms. Different methods of applying intraperitoneal chemotherapy were used perioperatively to consolidate or control peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Persistence is a transient phenotypic adaptation that confers survival to a small percentage of cells (between 0.01 and 10%) in genetically identical bacterial populations. Nevertheless, persistence greatly affects the evolution of acquired drug resistance mutations by decreasing antibiotic efficacy and generating a reservoir of surviving cells that can contribute to the onset of chronic infectious disease.

The pathophysiology of typical gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) symptoms and reflux oesophagitis is associated with excess acid reflux, but both refractory GORD and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) have strong links with functional gut disorders. Oesophageal pH impedance monitoring, our accepted gold standard for diagnosing GORD, has significant shortcomings when assessing proximal oesophageal and in particular pharyngeal reflux. In addition, identifying potential contamination of other parts of the respiratory tract such as lungs or sinuses is not possible. The association between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and both refractory GORD and LPR suggests a common pathogenesis.

Verrucous carcinoma is an extremely rare disease, and it is unique in terms of its appearance, growth pattern, and etiology. In 1948, Ackerman first described verrucous squamous cell carcinoma (VSC) as a variant of oral squamous cell carcinoma, and he collected 31 cases of oral neoplasms under the name, “Verrucous Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity.”

Since the discovery of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) by Blumberg et al., great progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of the virus and its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is estimated that hepatitis B is responsible for about 50% of the HCC cases worldwide. Because of geographic variations in HBV incidence, the burden of HBV-related HCC (HBV-HCC) is highest in endemic areas such as Asian-Pacific and sub- Saharan Africa and lowest in the United States and the West. The hepatitis B vaccines, developed in the 1980s, transformed the evolution of hepatitis B in the modern era. This was followed by high effective anti-viral that reduced HBV infections and HBV-HCC.

Each cell in the body contains hundreds of mitochondria; each mitochondrion contains several DNA molecules, each carrying 37 genes that participate in the production of energy.

Fatty liver (FL) is the most common wide-world liver disease that is nowadays demonstrating an increasing prevalence trend. In sharp contrast, the most common causes of liver diseases, such as viral causes, are decreasing thanks to advances in antiviral therapies. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by hepatic fat accumulation, often associated with insulin resistance (IR), and defined by the presence of steatosis in at least 5% of hepatocytes in absence of relevant alcohol intake.

Multidisciplinary treatment is widely applied for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using liver resection/ transplantation, local ablation therapy, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), and systemic therapy. Systemic therapy is recommended and can provide a modest prognosis for HCC in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging C.

Tenofovir, alias (R)-PMPA, was first divulged as an anti- HIV agent in 1993 [1]. That it would in 2012, become the first antiretroviral agent, approved by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to prevent HIV infection, could have been predicted from the findings of Tsai et al.