Cirrhosis

Patients who tested positive for hepatitis D virus antibodies were at greater risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma and other adverse liver-related outcomes, often at a young age, according to study results.

The long-stagnant primary biliary cholangitis drug market has seen renewed attention in the past 3 months with the addition of two FDA-approved therapy options as well as a costly ruling from an FDA advisory committee.

Significant differences in alcohol use, alcohol-related mortality and liver transplant rate by race and ethnicity underscore the need for “tailored approaches to managing” alcohol-related liver disease in the U.S., according to a researcher.

The FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation to Boehringer Ingelheim’s survodutide for the treatment of adult patients with noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and moderate or advanced fibrosis.

Significant variations in global rates of infection, culture-positivity and drug resistance serve as a “call to action” to streamline antibiotic use and improve outcomes among inpatients with cirrhosis, according to researchers.

Researchers have identified additional predictors of relapse in patients undergoing liver transplant for alcohol-related liver disease, including younger age and prior relapse, which differ from components of current prediction scores.

Use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists was associated with a reduced risk for progression to cirrhosis and other complications in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and diabetes, data showed.

An FDA advisory committee voted against approval for obeticholic acid in primary biliary cholangitis without cirrhosis or compensated cirrhosis with portal hypertension, citing “concern for real possible harm”.

Both stretching and meditation reduced cramp severity and improved quality of life among patients with cirrhosis and may be considered as nonpharmacologic interventions when treating nocturnal muscle cramps, according to researchers.

In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, warned that, despite being the smallest virus capable of causing human disease, hepatitis delta virus holds an outsized global impact as the most severe form of viral hepatitis.