Sarcopenia at First Diagnosis Predicts a Reduced Survival in Patients Affected by Hepatocarcinoma

s / Digestive and Liver Disease 47S (2015) e43–e66 e63 driving the synthesis of abnormal peptides, possibly leading to virion assembly defects and to the intracytoplasmatic accumulation of HBsAg. Conclusions Selective pressure by the immune system selects variants in theprecore region that arenotproportionally detectable in the periphery, possibly due to the abnormal release of defective virions. This may also have clinical implications for hepatic pathology (steatosis) andmay lead to the underestimation of viral load. A better comprehensionof the relationshipbetween intrahepatic and peripheral (virological and clinical) markers may confer to these a higher diagnostic power. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dld.2015.01.136