Cirrhosis/Liver Failure News

In this guest commentary from the Liver Health Initiative, Thelma King Thiel, RN, BA, former CEO of both the American Liver Foundation and the Hepatitis Foundation International, gives insight into speaking with pediatric patients and parents about liver health. After losing her son to biliary atresia, Thiel focused on training health care providers about liver health. She recently founded the Liver Health Initiative to continue to fill the knowledge gap that exists about liver health.

Treatment with midodrine and albumin mildly suppressed the activity of vasoconstrictor systems in patients with cirrhosis waiting for liver transplantation but did not significantly prevent cirrhosis complications or improve survival, according to recently published data.

Adverse events occurred more often among patients with cirrhosis than noncirrhotic cases after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and correlated with a higher incidence of acute chronic liver failure, according to a recently published study.

Results of a randomized control trial of patients with advanced cirrhosis without recent fluoroquinolone therapy showed that norfloxacin did not reduce 6-month mortality but did appear to increase survival among patients with low ascites fluid protein concentration.

Results of two phase 2b trials showed that simtuzumab was ineffective in reducing fibrosis or hepatic venous pressure gradient among patients with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

From 1999 to 2016, all-cause mortality among adults aged between 25 years and 64 years in many different ethnic groups in the United States increased while life expectancy in the United States plateaued from 2010 to 2016, according to two studies published in BMJ.

Patients with chronic liver disease had increasing rates of hospitalization, longer hospital stay, more readmissions and less access to post-acute care compared with patients with other chronic diseases, according to a recently published study.

The Liver Frailty Index combined with hepatologist assessment significantly improved mortality risk prediction in patients with cirrhosis compared with subjective clinical assessment alone, according to a recently published study.

The FDA recently approved a thrombocytopenia therapy for adults with chronic liver disease and a combination therapy for advanced metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. Along with these advancements, multiple societies have recently provided grants or investments into liver disease research.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation announced its investment of $4.06 million in research and career development grants awarded to 36 researchers and clinicians, according to a press release.