Sook-Hyang Jeong

Min Kyung Park, Yun-Sook Lim, Eun Ju Cho, Jeayeon Park, Yun Bin Lee, Jeong-Hoon Lee, Su Jong Yu, Jung-Hwan Yoon, Mikyung Lee, Anna Lee, Yun-Tae Kim, Hwaryung Chung, Gwang Hyeon Choi, Jin-Wook Kim, Eun Sun Jang, Sook-Hyang Jeong. Gut and Liver -0001;0:. https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl260141

Korean Journal of Interventional Radiology

Orbital metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is extremely rare, and patients often present with ocular symptoms before the primary tumor is diagnosed. Here, we report two cases of orbital metastasis from HCC with distinct clinical courses. The first case involved a patient with no prior cancer history who presented with vision loss and was subsequently diagnosed with HCC following an orbital mass biopsy. The second case involved a patient with known HCC undergoing treatment who initially presented with periorbital swelling misdiagnosed as cellulitis before orbital metastasis was confirmed. Both cases highlight the importance of considering orbital metastasis in patients with ocular symptoms, even in the absence of a known malignancy. Given the poor prognosis and limited treatment options for orbital metastasis, early recognition through imaging and histopathological confirmation is crucial for appropriate management.

Gwang Hyeon Choi, Young-Hoon Chon, Do Hoon Kwon, Sung Nam Jo, Og-Jin Jang, Kyung-Ah Kim, Dahye Baik, Eun Sun Jang, Sook-Hyang Jeong. Gut and Liver -0001;0:. https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl240451

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes extrahepatic manifestations involving B-cell dysregulation and autoantibody production. This study aimed to elucidate the positivity rates of four autoantibodies [anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-smooth muscle antibody (ASMA), anti-liver kidney microsomal type 1 (anti-LKM1), and anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA)] in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) before and after direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy compared to those in healthy controls. Methods: This study enrolled prospectively collected plasma samples from 201 CHC patients [median age, 62 years; 49.8% women; 100% sustained virological response (SVR)] from eight hospitals before and after DAA therapy and 127 healthy individuals. Autoantibodies were detected using indirect immunofluorescence. Results: The positivity rate of ANA was higher in CHC patients than in healthy controls (32.3% vs. 21.3%, P=0.03) at pretreatment (PreTx) and decreased at SVR (32.3% vs. 23.9%, P=0.009). Female sex and higher globulin levels were related to ANA positivity in the control and CHC patient groups. Thirty-seven (57%) of 65 patients with ANA-positive HCV at PreTx maintained ANA-positivity at SVR. Among the 136 ANA-negative patients at PreTx, 11 (8%) showed newly positive ANA conversion at SVR. Patients with ANA positivity at SVR (n=48) were older and had a higher proportion of advanced liver disease than ANA-negative patients (n=153). Conclusions: ANA positivity was observed in one-third of CHC patients at PreTx, which was significantly higher than that in healthy controls and decreased after SVR. CHC patients with ANA positivity after SVR were older and had more advanced liver disease than those with ANA negativity, suggesting persistent immune dysregulation after cure.

Correspondence on Letter Regarding “Contemporary Awareness of Viral Hepatitis between 2012 and 2022 among Korean Adults”

Correspondence on Editorial regarding “Elimination of viral hepatitis: How far are we?”

Jang ES, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2024 Mar;39(12):e115. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2024.39.e115