VIDEO: New treatments available for coagulation disorders in cirrhosis

SAN ANTONIO — In this exclusive video from the National Liver Conference 2019, Robert S. Brown, MD, from the Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses coagulation disorders in patients with cirrhosis.

“We know that both thrombocytopenia and elevated clotting times are common in these patients and may or may not predict their bleeding risk,” Brown told Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease.

During an interaction panel discussion, Brown and colleagues debated the controversies of using fresh frozen plasma to correct patient international normalized ratio as well as the use of novel newly approved thrombopoietin analogues to increase platelet counts in patients with liver disease who will undergo invasive procedures.

“I think this is something more people need to do to avoid the risks associated with platelet transfusions and the impact on patients’ quality of life of either procedures that get canceled or never get performed because thrombocytopenia,” he said.

Reference: O’Leary. Coagulation Disturbances in Cirrhosis. Presented at: National Liver Conference; October 25, 2019; San Antonio.

Disclosure: Brown reports he is a consultant for AbbVie, Dova, Gilead, Intercept and Shionogi; and has received research support from AbbVie, Gilead and Intercept.