Per American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) consensus statements, the alcohol consumption threshold

to define NASH included <21 drinks per week for men and <14 drinks per week for women at the height of maximal alcohol intake before curative treatment.34 Using this definition, patients with a previous history of alcohol use that may have predisposed to alcohol-induced liver disease were excluded from the categories of definite NASH and borderline NASH. Criteria for metabolic syndrome were extrapolated from international guidelines35, 36 GSK458 manufacturer and included any three of the following: body mass index (BMI) >28.8 kg/m2 (validated as a replacement for elevated waist circumference in men and women)23 and documentation of or medical treatment for dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and/or diabetes mellitus (DM). Active HCV infection was defined by either viral hepatitis Smoothened Agonist in vivo noted on histopathologic examination, positive serology, or an elevated viral titer. Preoperative ascites was defined by appearance on radiologic imaging, detection on physical examination, or treatment with diuretics and/or paracentesis. Reported model for end-stage liver disease

(MELD) scores do not include upgrades for HCC. Criteria for definitive curative therapy with hepatic ablation, resection, or liver transplantation were not uniform throughout the study period. Every patient was evaluated at a multidisciplinary tumor conference comprising gastroenterologists, hepatologists, transplant surgeons, medical oncologists, and surgical oncologists. For patients who underwent RFA, the size and number of hepatic lesions was determined from last preoperative

imaging. Of note, all gross sites of disease (including the few cases of metastatic disease) were resected at definitive curative treatment. In all cases, disease recurrence was noted on postoperative radiologic imaging. For those patients treated with liver transplantation, no donor organs were obtained from executed prisoners or other institutionalized persons. Steatosis grade, fibrosis stage, and hepatocyte ballooning were reported as described by Kleiner et al.7 Instead 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 of the precise number of foci per high-power field, lobular inflammation was reported as “none,” “rare/spotty,” or “moderate/heavy.” Each of these terms was then coded in increasing severity from 0 to 2 in calculating the NAFLD activity score (NAS).7 Because the stigmata of NASH may disappear with cirrhosis, the most severe form of each pathologic category (e.g., steatosis, hepatocyte ballooning, and so on) present on examination from the definitive curative treatment or on previous pathology specimens was reported. Pathologist determination of NASH was reported independently of NAS and was categorized as definite, borderline, or none per consensus guidelines.