Cirrhosis/Liver Failure News

BARCELONA — In this exclusive video interview at International Liver Congress, Marlyn J. Mayo, MD, hepatologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, discusses results from an analysis of the POISE clinical trials, where a titration strategy for initiating low dose of obeticholic acid, or Ocaliva, was found as efficacious as starting with a higher dose but with lower rates of pruritus in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

BARCELONA — Compared with a placebo group, patients taking the pan-caspase inhibitor emricasan presented with lower MELD, Child Pugh scores and other markers, especially in the setting of a highly impaired liver, a presenter said during the Late Breaker session of the International Liver Congress.

The Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee voted 17-0 in favor of Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ new drug application of obeticholic acid for use as monotherapy or in combination with ursodeoxycholic acid for the treatment of adults with primary biliary cirrhosis, also known as primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Mortality due to alcoholic cirrhosis among Danish residents in Denmark has declined over time, according to findings published in American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Both overall survival and transplant-free survival rates increased significantly in adults with acute liver failure, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

In a prospective study, abrupt interruption of beta-blockers did not lead to hemodynamic rebound or increase the risk for variceal bleeding among patients with cirrhosis.

Black patients with five common gastrointestinal diagnoses had fewer major complications and lower mortality rates when they received treatment at hospitals with greater inpatient racial diversity, according to data published in American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Researchers observed a decrease in spleen size over time after patients with hepatitis C virus infection and cirrhosis achieved successful sustained virologic response, according to findings presented at the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting.

Hospitalized patients with cirrhosis who underwent paracentesis via ultrasound had increased mortality benefit over time, according to findings presented at the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting.

Plasma metabolic profiling was accurate in predicting morality among patients with decompensated cirrhosis, according to recent study data.