In the News
ACIP updates hepatitis A vaccination recommendations
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) changed its recommendations regarding vaccination of patients with chronic liver disease, pregnant women, and those treated with blood products for clotting disorders, among other revisions.
Liver cancer diagnosis delayed in almost half of veterans with cirrhosis
Failure to follow guidelines, diagnostic imaging without alpha-fetoprotein measurement, and diagnosis from an incidental finding were all associated with a delay of more than 60 days between a red flag for hepatocellular carcinoma and a diagnosis, a retrospective study found.
Cannabis, cannabinoids didn't improve remission or inflammatory markers in IBD
A meta-analysis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) studies did find improvements in patient-reported symptoms and quality of life associated with cannabis and cannabinoids.
MKSAP Quiz: Worsening abdominal pain
A 26-year-old woman with Crohn disease is evaluated for a 2-week history of worsening abdominal pain. The patient has required three courses of prednisone for disease flares over the past year. Her only medication is azathioprine. What is the most appropriate treatment?
Spotlight on lean NAFLD
Recent studies looked at the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients without overweight or obesity and compared clinical characteristics of these patients with both healthy controls and patients with obesity and NAFLD.
Older adults have greater risk for complications after colonoscopy, study finds
The results suggest that clinicians should carefully consider the decision to perform colonoscopy in patients ages 75 years and older, particularly in the presence of comorbidities, study authors said.
USPSTF recommends screening adults 18 to 79 years for hepatitis C virus infection with moderate certainty
An essential requirement of expanded screening is the availability of effective treatment, but randomized controlled trials to date have not shown clinical benefit of direct-acting antiviral therapy beyond sustained virologic response, an ACP Journal Club commentary noted.
First-line immunotherapy approved for certain patients with colorectal cancer
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for IV injection is now indicated to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient colorectal cancer.