Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Is It Time To Replace Propranolol With Carvedilol For Portal Hypertension?, Shahab Abid, Saadat Ali, Muhammad Asif Baig, Anam Akbar Waheed

Section of Gastroenterology

Beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists (beta-blockers) have been well established for use in portal hypertension for more than three decades. Different Non-selective beta-blockers like propranolol, nadolol, timolol, atenolol, metoprolol and carvedilol have been in clinical practice in patients with cirrhosis. Carvedilol has proven 2-4 times more potent than propranolol as a beta-receptor blocker in trials conducted testing its efficacy for heart failure. Whether the same effect extends to its potency in the reduction of portal venous pressures is a topic of on-going debate. The aim of this review is to compare the hemodynamic and clinical effects of carvedilol with propranolol, and attempt …

Effect Of Helicobacter Pylori And Its Virulence Factors On Portal Hypertensive Gastropathy And Interleukin (Il)-8, Il-10, And Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Levels, Z Abbas, Javed Yakoob, Usman Wm, Shakir T, Saeed Hamid, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

Background/Aim: We aimed to assess the influence of Helicobacter pylori and its virulent factors, cytotoxin associated gene (cag) A and E, on portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) and the levels of interleukin (IL)-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α).

Patients and Methods: The patients with cirrhosis underwent screening endoscopy and the lesions related to PHG were graded. Biopsies were obtained for histology, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of H. pylori 16S rRNA, cagA, cagE, and tissue cytokine levelswas carried out. Absent or mild PHG was compared with moderate to severe PHG.

Results: One hundred and forty patients with cirrhosis were studied; …

Short Course Adjuvant Terlipressin In Acute Variceal Bleeding: A Randomized Double Blind Dummy Controlled Trial, Zahid Azam, Saeed Hamid, Wasim Jafri, Mohammad Salih, Zaigham Abbas, Shahab Abid, Hasnain Shah

Section of Gastroenterology

Background & Aims: Terlipressin is recommended for 3-5 days as adjuvant to endoscopic variceal band ligation (EVBL) in esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB). We assessed whether terlipressin can be administered for a shorter period of time to Patients with EVB.

Methods: All eligible EVB Patients received 24 h of open label terlipressin at presentation. After successful EVBL, Patients were randomized to receive active or dummy terlipressin for the next 48 h. We excluded Patients with failure to achieve initial hemostasis, bleeding gastric varices, known hepatoma, and/or portal vein thrombosis, advanced cirrhosis (Child-Pugh score >= 12), and Patients on a ventilator. …