Fuster D, García-Calvo X, Zuluaga P, Bolao F, Muga R. Assessment of liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis C and unhealthy alcohol use. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27(23): 3223-3237 [PMID: PMC8218351 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i23.3223]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Daniel Fuster, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Staff Physician, Department of Internal Medicine, Addiction Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Carretera de Canyet s/n, Badalona 08916, Spain. dfuster.germanstrias@gencat.cat
Research Domain of This Article
Substance Abuse
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2021; 27(23): 3223-3237 Published online Jun 21, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i23.3223
Assessment of liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis C and unhealthy alcohol use
Daniel Fuster, Xavier García-Calvo, Paola Zuluaga, Ferran Bolao, Robert Muga
Daniel Fuster, Xavier García-Calvo, Paola Zuluaga, Robert Muga, Department of Internal Medicine, Addiction Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona 08916, Spain
Ferran Bolao, Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona 08907, Spain
Author contributions: Fuster D and García-Calvo X performed the literature review; Fuster D drafted the initial version of the manuscript; Muga R and García-Calvo X revised the initial version of the manuscript and provided feed-back and suggestions; all authors revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported byInstitute of Health Carlos III, No. RETICS RD16/0017/0003, No. PI17/00174, and No. PI20/00883; Institute of Health Carlos III, Juan Rodes Program, No. JR20/00016; Institute of Health Carlos III, Sara Borrell Program, No. CD19/00019; Institute of Health Carlos III, Physician Intensification Program, No. INT19/00026; National Plan on Drugs, Spain, No. 2018/020, and No. 2020/024, Spain; and Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Spain, Consolidated Research Group, No. 2017-SGR-316.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict declared.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Daniel Fuster, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Staff Physician, Department of Internal Medicine, Addiction Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Carretera de Canyet s/n, Badalona 08916, Spain. dfuster.germanstrias@gencat.cat
Received: February 9, 2021 Peer-review started: February 9, 2021 First decision: February 27, 2021 Revised: March 11, 2021 Accepted: May 10, 2021 Article in press: May 10, 2021 Published online: June 21, 2021 Processing time: 128 Days and 17.3 Hours
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and unhealthy alcohol use are major drivers of the burden of liver disease worldwide and commonly co-occur. Assessment of underlying liver damage is a cornerstone of the clinical care of patients with chronic HCV infection and/or unhealthy alcohol use because many of them are diagnosed at advanced stages of disease. Early diagnosis of liver disease before decompensated liver cirrhosis becomes established is essential for treatment with direct acting antivirals and/or abstinence from alcohol consumption, which are the main therapeutic approaches for clinical management. In this review, we discuss current knowledge around the use of non-invasive methods to assess liver disease, such as abdominal ultrasound, controlled attenuation parameter, transient elastography, magnetic resonance imaging, and indices based on serum markers of liver injury.
Core Tip: In this review, we discuss current knowledge around the use of non-invasive methods to assess underlying liver disease in patients with hepatitis C virus infection and/or unhealthy alcohol use. A timely diagnosis of liver disease is of the outmost importance to avoid progression to decompensated liver disease and liver cancer. Antiviral treatment and abstinence from alcohol use are cornerstones of clinical care for these patients.
