Background and aim: Recent practice guidelines suggest healthy normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels should be less than 30 U/L for males and 19 U/L for females. We tried to validate the prediction power of the “low cut off” for liver related outcomes in the general population. Methods: A total of 426,013 subjects were followed up for 10 years using the National Health Screening Cohort database. Prediction ability of long term mortality and liver related outcomes between conventional (<40 U/L in men and women) and low (<30 U/L in men and <19 U/L in women) ALT cut-off values were compared. Results: Both conventional and low ALT cut-offs predicted liver related unfavorable outcomes in Kaplan-Meier analysis. Following adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, exercise, alcohol consumption, fasting blood glucose, and cholesterol via multivariate Cox regression, abnormal ALT using new ‘low ALT cut off’ was a significant independent predictor for liver-related mortality, HCC, and decompensated liver events. When the low cut-off criteria were added to the prediction model, the ability to predetect liver-related hard outcomes significantly increased in both men and women (p-values < 0.0001). The C-index values for predicting liver-related adverse events were the same in both ALT cut-offs, after adjusting confounding factors (C index value: 0.73~0.88). Conclusions: New low ALT cut-off showed good prediction power for liver related unfavorable outcomes.

Background and Aim. The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally as is the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Herein, we sought to evaluate the characteristics and prognosis of IBD in patients with obesity. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of IBD patients who visited Asan Medical center. We used a large, well‐characterized referral center‐based cohort. The clinical features of IBD patients with body mass index (BMI) over 30 and matched controls with BMI under 30 were compared. Results. Among the 6,803 IBD patients enrolled in the Asan IBD Registry between June 1989 and December 2016, we identified 16 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 27 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) whose BMI was over 30 at the time of diagnosis. Their clinical characteristics and course were compared with those of 64 and 108 matched patients with CD and UC, respectively. There were no significant differences in the risk of using steroids (hazards ratio (HR) = 0.633 and P = 0.254), immunomodulators (HR = 0.831 and P = 0.517), and anti‐tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy (HR = 1.539 and P = 0.351) and risk of bowel resections (HR = 1.858 and P = 0.231) between CD patients with BMI over 30 and those with BMI under 30; similarly, UC patients did not show significant differences in the risk of using steroids (HR = 0.613 and P = 0.145), immunomodulators (HR = 0.492 and P = 0.111), anti‐TNF therapy (HR = 0.385 and P = 0.095), and risk of colectomy (HR = 0.262 and P = 0.104). In the subgroup analysis, under‐weight UC patients had a higher cumulative probability of needing steroids (HR = 0.2510 and P = 0.042), needing immunomodulators (HR = 0.097 and P = 0.014), and a higher risk of receiving colectomy (HR = 0.024 and P = 0.019) than obese UC patients. Conclusions. Obese IBD patients with CD or UC did not show significantly different clinical features from nonobese IBD patients.

Backgrounds: It is not clear when and how frequently surveillance endoscopy should be performed after colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). We aimed to suggest a surveillance endoscopy strategy by investigating the cumulative local recurrence rates and identifying risk factors for local recurrence after colorectal ESD. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 770 patients who underwent colorectal ESD for 778 lesions at our institution from 2005 to 2016. We investigated the cumulative local recurrence rates and risk factors for local recurrence. Results: Local recurrence developed in 12 (1.5%) of 778 lesions during the follow-up period of 37.4 ± 31.7 months. The one-, three-, and five-year cumulative local recurrence rates were 0.4%, 1.7%, and 2.2%, respectively. The risk factors for local recurrence were piecemeal resection (odds ratio (OR) 3.948, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.164–13.385; p = 0.028) and histological incomplete resection (OR 8.713, 95% CI 2.588–29.334; p < 0.001). Local recurrence tended to develop frequently after ESD of early cancers. Conclusions: Short-term surveillance endoscopy should be recommended after piecemeal ESD, histological incomplete resection, and ESD of early colorectal cancers. Surveillance endoscopy with longer intervals can be suggested after en bloc ESD with the histological complete resection of benign colorectal tumors.

Background: The prevalence of malnutrition in patients with cirrhosis is considerably high. Body mass index (BMI) is a well-known risk factor for malnutrition, but the other risk factors are unknown. We investigated the prevalence of malnutrition and its risk factors in patients with cirrhosis. Methods: In total, 361 patients with cirrhosis were enrolled. Muscle quality and quantity were retrospectively assessed using the grip strength test and bioelectrical impedance analysis. Subjective global assessment (SGA) of malnutrition and dietary intake assessments were performed by a clinical dietician. Results: The prevalence rates of sarcopenia, malnutrition assessed by SGA, and inadequate energy intake were 22.7%, 13.6%, and 27.5%, respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition evaluated using any of the assessment methods was 46.3%, and no significant difference was observed according to liver disease etiology. The prevalence of malnutrition increased with the increasing disease severity (p = 0.034) and decreasing BMI (p = 0.007). The prevalence of malnutrition was 64.4% in patients with protein intake <1.0 g/kg. Low protein intake, Child–Pugh C grade, older age, and low BMI were independent risk factors for malnutrition in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Low protein intake (<1.0 g/kg) is an independent risk factor for malnutrition in patients with cirrhosis.