Jennifer R Kramer

..We wanted to determine the effectiveness of HCV treatment in Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals nationwide...

..Several patient characteristics are known to impact hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral treatment rates. However, it is unclear whether, and to what extent, health-care providers or facility characteristics impact HCV treatment rates...

..CONCLUSION: Quality measure rates for HAV and HBV are suboptimal for patients with chronic HCV. In addition, several patient-related factors and receiving HCV-related care are associated with a higher likelihood of meeting QMs...

..Surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is recommended for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and cirrhosis. However, whether surveillance is being done as recommended is unknown...

..Therefore, it is imperative to establish the CE and acceptability about the risks and outcomes related to these practices to better inform expert recommendations and provider-patient decisions...

..84, p= 0.40). CONCLUSIONS: Coinfection was a significant risk factor for cirrhosis only during the pre-HAART era and was not associated with hepatocellular carcinoma, irrespective of time period...

..There is emerging evidence that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection play a role in the etiology of immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), both of which are severe autoimmune cytopenias...

..It is uncertain if patients coinfected with hepatitis C and HIV are more likely to suffer fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) when compared to patients with HIV-only...

..Although surveys report that >95% of gastroenterologists recommend or practice BE surveillance, the extent and patterns of surveillance in clinical practice are unknown...

..The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of HCC surveillance in a national Veterans Administration (VA) practice setting, using the national VA hepatitis C virus (HCV) Clinical Case Registry...

..The purpose of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and abdominal ultrasound (US) cannot be discerned in administrative data...

..Process of care-based measures are used commonly to assess the quality of medical care provided to patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the links between these processes and patient outcomes are not clear...

..Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a risk factor for developing CRC; however, risk differences for CRC between African Americans and Caucasians with UC are unknown...

..We investigated whether higher levels of AFP at the time of diagnosis are associated with increased mortality of patients with HCV-related HCC...

..Disparities in survival for black patients with HIV in the United States have been reported. The VA is an equal access health care system...

..The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori among individuals with histologic gastritis...

..We examined the effects of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) on the risk of BE and investigated whether race, GERD symptoms, or hiatus hernia were involved...

..The aim of this study was to identify temporal trends in the incidence and prevalence of CD and UC among VA users using national VA data sets...

....

..Obesity has been associated with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD); however, the mechanism by which obesity may cause GERD is unclear...

..Expanded routine testing for HIV infection is needed with attention directed to men and persons who may not recognize that they are at risk for contracting HIV infection...

..We systematically reviewed the literature examining the association of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) with liver disease in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection...

..Evidence-based guidelines define the criteria and standards of care for patients with cirrhosis and ascites. However, little is known about the extent to which patients with ascites meet these standards...

..Deficiencies at the referral level may lead to disparities at further levels of access to liver transplantation...

..Previous studies have been too small to adequately assess these risks...

..However, proper infection control practices for cosmetic procedures should be followed, illegal drug use discouraged, and hepatitis B vaccination provided to adolescents and sexually active adults...

..The effect of Helicobacter pylori on Barrett's esophagus is poorly understood. We conducted a meta-analysis to summarize the existing literature examining the effect that H. pylori has on Barrett's esophagus...

..CONCLUSIONS: Obesity seems to be associated with an increased risk of BE. Abdominal visceral adiposity might mediate most of this risk...

..To generate a brief screening measure to assist frontline rehabilitation health care workers to rapidly and validly screen patients for depressive symptoms...