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Background: Terlipressin can effectively control acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in cirrhotic patients by acting on the V1 receptors, but may lead to the development of dilutional hyponatremi...

Introduction Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a major cause of death in liver cirrhosis. This multicenter study aims to develop and validate a novel and easy-to-access model for predicting the prognosis of patients with cirrhosis and acute GIB. Methods Patients with cirrhosis and acute GIB were enrolled and randomly divided into the training (n = 865) and validation (n = 817) cohorts. In the training cohort, the independent predictors for in-hospital death were identified by logistic regression analyses, and then a new prognostic model (i.e., CAGIB score) was established. Area under curve (AUC) of CAGIB score was calculated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and compared with Child–Pugh, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), MELD-Na, and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) scores. Results In the training cohort, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), diabetes, total bilirubin (TBIL), albumin (ALB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and serum creatinine (Scr) were independent predictors of in-hospital death. CAGIB score = diabetes (yes = 1, no = 0) × 1.040 + HCC (yes = 1, no = 0) × 0.974 + TBIL (μmol/L) × 0.005 − ALB (g/L) × 0.091 + ALT (U/L) × 0.001 + Scr (μmol/L) × 0.012 − 3.964. In the training cohort, the AUC of CAGIB score for predicting in-hospital death was 0.829 (95% CI 0.801–0.854, P

Objective: At present, the association of body mass index (BMI) with the prognosis of liver cirrhosis is controversial. Our retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of BMI on the outcome of liver cirrhosis.Methods: In the first part, long-term death was evaluated in 436 patients with cirrhosis and without malignancy from our prospectively established single-center database. In the second part, in-hospital death was evaluated in 379 patients with cirrhosis and with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (AGIB) from our retrospective multicenter study. BMI was calculated and categorized as underweight (BMI 2), normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 23.0 kg/m2), and overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 23.0 kg/m2).Results: In the first part, Kaplan–Meier curve analyses demonstrated a significantly higher cumulative survival rate in the overweight/obese group than the normal weight group (p = 0.047). Cox regression analyses demonstrated that overweight/obesity was significantly associated with decreased long-term mortality compared with the normal weight group [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.635; 95% CI: 0.405–0.998; p = 0.049] but not an independent predictor after adjusting for age, gender, and Child–Pugh score (HR = 0.758; 95%CI: 0.479–1.199; p = 0.236). In the second part, Kaplan–Meier curve analyses demonstrated no significant difference in the cumulative survival rate between the overweight/obese and the normal weight groups (p = 0.094). Cox regression analyses also demonstrated that overweight/obesity was not significantly associated with in-hospital mortality compared with normal weight group (HR = 0.349; 95%CI: 0.096-1.269; p = 0.110). In both of the two parts, the Kaplan–Meier curve analyses demonstrated no significant difference in the cumulative survival rate between underweight and normal weight groups.Conclusion: Overweight/obesity is modestly associated with long-term survival in patients with cirrhosis but not an independent prognostic predictor. There is little effect of overweight/obesity on the short-term survival of patients with cirrhosis and with AGIB.

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) rapidly reduces effective blood volume, thereby precipitating acute kidney injury (AKI). Terlipressin, which can induce splanchnic vasoconstriction and increase renal perfusion, has been recommended for acute GIB and hepatorenal syndrome in liver cirrhosis. Thus, we hypothesized that terlipressin might be beneficial for cirrhotic patients with acute GIB and renal impairment. In this Chinese multi-center study, 1644 cirrhotic patients with acute GIB were retrospectively enrolled. AKI was defined according to the International Club of Ascites (ICA) criteria. Renal dysfunction was defined as serum creatinine (sCr) > 133 μmol/L at admission and/or any time point during hospitalization. Incidence of renal impairment and in-hospital mortality were the primary end-points. The incidence of any stage ICA-AKI, ICA-AKI stages 1B, 2, and 3, and renal dysfunction in cirrhotic patients with acute GIB was 7.1%, 1.8%, and 5.0%, respectively. The in-hospital mortality was significantly increased by renal dysfunction (14.5% vs. 2.2%, P

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. During the recent years, external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) has been safely and effectively employed for the management of HCC. We overviewed the current evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of EBRT for HCC according to the different target population. PubMed database was searched for identifying English-language full-text articles regarding EBRT for the treatment of HCC. Search items were "hepatocellular carcinoma AND radiation therapy". Until now, preliminary evidence has suggested the following role of EBRT for HCC. 1) EBRT, especially stereotactic body radiation therapy, is an emerging choice of therapy for small HCC. 2) EBRT combined with non-surgical treatment can achieve an excellent intrahepatic tumor control and a potential survival benefit for huge HCC. 3)Adjunctive EBRT may improve the efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization for HCC with portal vein tumor thrombosis. 4) EBRT can relieve the pain and improve the quality of life for patients with extrahepatic metastases. 5) EBRT may be a bridge to liver transplantation by minimizing the tumor progression. 6) Adjunctive EBRT may reduce the tumor recurrence and improve the survival after resection. In summary, EBRT is a promising choice of treatment of HCC. However, more high-quality evidence is needed to further establish the status of EBRT for the management of HCC.

Background: Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a life-threatening complication of end-stage liver diseases. It has been reported that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may improve liver function, delay disease progression, alleviate symptoms, and improve quality of life in HRS patients. The study aims to systematically review the efficacy of TCM for the treatment of HRS. Methods: Publications were searched electronically from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, and EMBASE databases. Odds ratio (OR) and standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Heterogeneity was assessed. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Results: Fourteen randomized controlled trials involving 788 patients with HRS were included. Random generation sequence was reported in only two studies. Blinding was not used in any study. Compared to conventional treatment without TCM, TCM led to a significant survival benefit during hospitalization (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.08–0.39; P

The prognostic impact of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in liver cirrhosis remains controversial among studies, primarily because the risk stratification of PVT is often lacking. A definition of clinically significant PVT should be proposed and actively improved. Moreover, the risk factors for the development of PVT in liver cirrhosis should be fully recognized to screen and identify high-risk patients. Currently, well-recognized risk factors include a reduced portal vein flow velocity, a worse liver function, splenectomy, liver transplantation, and factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A mutations. Novel risk factors include an increased flow volume of portosystemic collateral vessel, thrombopoietin receptor agnonists, and non-selective beta-blockers. In contrast to the traditional perspectives, the abnormalities of procoagulant and anticoagulant factors may not contribute to the development of PVT in liver cirrhosis. Further studies should explore the role of other risk factors, such as antiphospholipid antibodies, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T gene mutation, hyperhomocysteinemia, and myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Objective: A retrospective study was performed to compare the difference in platelet count (PLT), prothrombin time (PT), in- ternational normalized ratio (INR), and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), between cirrhotic patients with and without acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (AUGIB) or acute oesophageal variceal bleeding (AEVB). Methods: Between January 2012 and June 2014, a total of 1734 cirrhotic patients were enrolled and were classified into 'AUGIB' (n ¼ 497) and 'no AUGIB' (n ¼ 1237) groups according to their disease history. They were further divided into 'AEVB' (n ¼ 297) and 'no AEVB' (n ¼ 1259) groups according to the endoscopic findings. Additionally, 178 patients with AUGIB were not assigned to either the 'AEVB' or 'no AEVB' groups due to the absence of any endoscopic findings. Results: Compared with the 'no AUGIB' group, the 'AUGIB' group had similar PLT (99.99 6 89.90 vs.101.47 6 83.03; P ¼ 0.734) and APTT (42.96 6 15.20 vs.43.77 6 11.01; P ¼ 0.219), but significantly higher PT (17.30 6 5.62 vs.16.03 6 4.68; P < 0.001) and INR (1.45 6 0.69 vs.1.31 6 0.59; P < 0.001). A lower PT was independently associated with the absence of AUGIB (OR ¼ 0.968; 95% CI: 0.942-0.994). Compared with the 'no AEVB' group, the 'AEVB' group had significantly lower PLT (86.87 6 62.14 vs.101.74 6 83.62; P ¼ 0.004) and APTT (40.98 6 7.9 vs.43.72 6 10.97; P < 0.001), but similar PT (16.53 6 3.71 vs.16.04 6 4.68; P ¼ 0.088) and INR (1.35 6 0.41 vs.1.31 6 0.59; P ¼ 0.225). A higher PLT was independently associated with the absence of AEVB (OR ¼ 1.004; 95% CI: 1.002-1.006; P ¼ 0.001). Conclusio ns: PLT was associated with the occurrence of portal hypertension-related bleeding in liver cirrhosis.