Portal Hypertension News

CHICAGO — During this year’s North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition annual meeting, Mercedes Martinez, MD, from the New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, will co-host the Single Topic Symposium on Chronic Liver Disease Management for the Gastroenterologist.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation has granted $3.42 million in research and career development awards to 29 researchers and clinicians to conduct liver disease research and undergo advanced hepatology training.

VIENNA — Emricasan missed its primary endpoint of hepatic venous pressure gradient reduction in all patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-related compensated cirrhosis and severe portal hypertension but showed meaningful reductions in portal pressure among patients with high-risk disease, according to a presentation at the International Liver Congress 2019.

Patients with idiopathic noncirrhotic portal hypertension had a high risk for major surgical and portal hypertension-related complications if they also had extrahepatic conditions related to their disease, a history of ascites, or increased serum creatinine.

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.

Despite a significant incidence of portal hypertension-related complications, overall pregnancy outcomes remained favorable in women with idiopathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, according to a study published in Journal of Hepatology.

WASHINGTON — Results of a prospective longitudinal analysis showed that the incidence of gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage in children with biliary atresia was lower than previously described, and that gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage was more common in patients with features of portal hypertension, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2018.

Among patients with HF, those with the highest degree of liver stiffness were at elevated risk for mortality and HF rehospitalization, researchers reported.

BETHESDA, Maryland — In this exclusive video from the AASLD Industry Colloquium 2018, Kris V. Kowdley, MD, FAASLD, from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, discusses the topics covered at the meeting and the opportunities for representatives of the industry, academia and regulatory agencies to come together.

Portal hypertension did not negatively affect survival rates in patients who underwent liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma, according to recently published data. While multiple tumors did affect survival, researchers considered the survival benefit from liver resection in these patients to be acceptable.