Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is less prevalent in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome than cirrhosis of liver

State of the Art, Current Perspectives, and Controversies of Budd-Chiari Syndrome: A Review

BACKGROUND

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is an eponym that includes a group of conditions characterized by partial or complete hepatic venous tract outflow obstruction, and the site of obstruction may involve one or more hepatic veins, inferior vena cava, or the right atrium. The classification of BCS is based on etiology, site of obstruction, and duration. Its etiology is very heterogeneous; in particular, hepatic vein thrombosis is the most common type of obstruction and myeloproliferative disorder, the most common thrombophilic disorder, in the West. In Asian countries, the type of obstruction, thrombophilic disorders, clinical features, and treatment strategies vary widely from region to region. Although the cause can be identified in 90% of patients with the help of gene mutation testing, BCS remains under-recognized in many countries. A higher prevalence of acute cases has been reported in the West than in the East. This global and regional heterogeneity raises several challenges regarding the evaluation, management strategy, and individualized approach of BCS. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of BCS to elucidate treatment strategy options.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched systematically.

RESULTS

Sixty-nine pertinent articles were retrieved and included in the present study.

CONCLUSIONS

Further research on the following three topics would help define individualized treatment strategies. The first is a better understanding of the molecular pathways underlying the thrombophilic conditions implicated in the pathogenesis of BCS. The second is the role of the genotype and gene mutations in the determination of coagulation status of patients with BCS. The third is the definition of clear criteria and development of a common prognostic index to risk stratify the patients at presentation and consequently detect candidates for invasive therapies.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: consensus guidance of the Asian Pacific Association for the study of the liver (APASL)

Budd Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a diverse disease with regard to the site of obstruction, the predisposing thrombophilic disorders and clinical presentation across the Asia-Pacific region. The hepatic vein ostial stenosis and short segment thrombosis are common in some parts of Asia-Pacific region, while membranous obstruction of the vena cava is common in some and complete thrombosis of hepatic veins in others. Prevalence of myeloproliferative neoplasms and other thrombophilic disorders in BCS varies from region to region and with different sites of obstruction. This heterogeneity also raises several issues and dilemmas in evaluation and approach to management of a patient with BCS. The opportunity to recanalize hepatic vein in patients with hepatic vein ostial stenosis or inferior vena cava stenting or pasty among those membranous obstruction of the vena cava is a unique opportunity in the Asia-Pacific region to restore hepatic outflow closely mimicking physiology. In order to address these issues arising out of the diversity as well as the unique features in the region, the Asia Pacific Association for Study of Liver has formulated these guidelines for clinicians.

The prevalence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy according to different diagnostic criteria

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Recently published criteria by 2019 Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy Consortium set a lower threshold for reduced ejection fraction to diagnose systolic dysfunction in cirrhotic patients, and stress testing was replaced by echocardiography strain imaging. The criteria to diagnose diastolic dysfunction are in general concordant with the 2016 ASE/EACVI guidelines and differ considerably from the 2005 Montreal recommendations. We aimed to assess the prevalence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy according to different diagnostic criteria.

METHODS

Cirrhotic patients without another structural heart disease, arterial hypertension, portal vein thrombosis, HCC outside Milan criteria and presence of TIPS were enrolled. Speckle-tracking echocardiography was performed by EACVI certified investigators.

RESULTS

A total of 122 patients with cirrhosis fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Overall prevalence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy was similar for 2005 Montreal and 2019 CCC: 67.2% vs 55.7% (P = .09); and significantly higher compared to 2009 ASE/EACVI criteria: 67.2% vs 35.2% (P < .0001) and 55.7% vs 35.2% (P = .002) respectively. Significantly more patients had diastolic dysfunction according to the 2005 Montreal compared to the 2009 ASE/EACVI and 2019 CCC criteria: 64.8% vs 32.8% (P < .0001) and 64.8% vs 7.4% (P < .0001). Systolic dysfunction was more frequently diagnosed according to 2019 CCC criteria compared to 2005 Montreal (53.3% vs 16.4%,P < .0001) or ASE/EACVI criteria (53.3% vs 4.9%,P < .0001).

CONCLUSION

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy was present in around 60% of cirrhotic patients when applying the hepatological criteria. A considerably higher prevalence of systolic dysfunction according to the 2019 CCC criteria was observed. Long-term follow-up studies are needed to establish the validity of these criteria to predict clinically relevant outcomes.

Prevalence and clinical presentation of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy: A single centre experience from southern India

BACKGROUND

There are scanty data from India on the prevalence and clinical profile of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM).

AIM

To identify the prevalence and clinical presentation of CCM in patients with liver cirrhosis.

METHODS

Five hundred and eighty-six patients with liver cirrhosis were recruited based on inclusion criteria and evaluated for cardiac parameters using electrocardiography, 2-dimensional echocardiography, dobutamine stress test and coronary angiography as needed. Baseline demographic data, liver biochemistry, endoscopic and radiological findings were recorded in all the patients. Appropriate statistical analyses were performed.  RESULTS: Four thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven patients with liver disease were registered during the study period. Five hundred and eighty-six cirrhotic patients had cardiac evaluation as per the study protocol. One hundred fifty-nine had coronary artery disease and were excluded. One hundred and ninety-eight of 427 remaining patients (46.4%) had CCM. The median age of patients with CCM was higher compared with those without CCM (52 years vs. 46 years; p-value < 0.00001). Likewise, cirrhosis-related complications ([isolated or in combination], lower pulse rate [< 60/min] and prolonged corrected QT interval [QTc]; p<0.00001) were more frequent in patients with CCM. After excluding known risk factors for CCM such as alcohol, diabetes, hypothyroidism, hypertension, the true prevalence of CCM was 8.2% (48 out of 586). Hepatotropic viral infections (p 0.03) and prolonged QTc (p 0.0004) were commoner in CCM.

CONCLUSION

Prevalence of CCM in our setting is 33.8%. CCM is commoner in males and is independent of the etiology of cirrhosis, comorbidity and severity of liver disease. Diastolic dysfunction and prolonged QTc interval are common in CCM.