studies

HEPATOLOGY, VOLUME 62, NUMBER 1 (SUPPL) AASLD ABSTRACTS 251A
of AKI. Peak AKIN stage reached was stage III:II:I in 80(66%):
31(25%):11(9%) patients, respectively. Presence of any E-OF
was strongly associated with both development of new AKI
(p=0.004, OR 6.7, 95% CI 1.86-24.1) and progression of
AKI (p=0.04, OR 2.28, 95%CI 1.01-5.1). This risk further
increased with increase in the number of E-OFs (p=0.001, OR
1.41, 95%CI 1.2-1.7). Further, AKI at admission alone was not
associated with mortality, but predicted mortality together with
any E-OF (p150000) and liver stiffness
(LS) ( 60% and an IQR/
Median < 30% were considered. SS was US guided. Results:
99 patients were included: 63% women; age 59 (± 6.6) years;
BMI 28 (± 4.8); MELD 9.7 (± 3.4); 80% Child-Pugh A. LS was
invalid in 2 patients and SS in 19. Platelets was 136.000 (±
54.000), LS was 24 kPa (± 12) and SS was 53 kPa (± 18).
Esophageal varices were detected in 54% of patients, 40%
small and 14% large size. Gastric varices were present in 5%
of patients, and GEV in 55%. Platelets (120.000 ± 45.000
vs 155.000 ± 57.000), LS (28.4 ± 13.1 vs 18.4 ± 7.6 kPa)
and SS (59.5 ± 17.0 vs 43.3 ± 17.9 kPA) were significantly
different among patients with or without GEV (p
6 months, n=83); and G4, past HCV infection (positive anti-
HCV and negative HCV RNA PCR, n=15). The serum samples
were tested using our HCV-Ags EIA before and after denaturation.
RESULTS. All 38 patients in G1 tested negative for
HCV-Ags, indicating 100% specificity of our HCV-Ags EIA. All
85 patients with acute (G2, n=2) or chronic (G3, n=83) HCV
infection (genotypes 1-6), and serum HCV RNA ranged from
1,124 to 14,400,000 IU/mL quantified using PCR, tested positive
for HCV-Ags with or without serum sample denaturation,
indicating 100% sensitivity of the HCV-Ags EIA. The mean
coefficient of variation (CVs) was 9.8% and 6.4%, respectively,
for intra- precision assay and inter-assay reproducibility.
In 2 cases with acute HCV infection, HCV-Ags were detectable
59-65 days before anti-HCV test became positive. To further
assess sensitivity, serum samples with low HCV RNA levels
(214-1160 IU/mL) were serially diluted and tested. The lower
limits of detection of the HCV-Ags assay using denatured or
undenatured sera were equivalent to serum HCV RNA levels
of 150 IU/mL and 250 IU/mL, respectively. Using denatured
serum samples, 6/15 patients in G4 tested positive; however,
none tested positive for HCV-Ags using undenatured serum
samples. Additional studies showed that denaturation of these
serum samples released HCV-Ags sequestered in HCV-ICs in
these patients that may result in false positivity for active HCV
infection. CONCLUSIONS. The highly specific and sensitive
HCV-Ags EIA has a lower limit of detection equivalent to serum