Systematic review: Interventions for alcohol use disorder in patients with cirrhosis or alcohol-associated hepatitis

Alcohol Rehabilitation Within 3 Months After Alcohol Hepatitis and Survival: A National Analysis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

There is limited understanding of the benefits of alcohol rehabilitation after alcohol hepatitis (AH).

METHODS

We conducted a 2012 to 2021 national longitudinal study involving adult inpatients diagnosed with AH in France. We assessed the primary outcome of liver transplantation or death within 1 year after AH, including in its complicated form (CAH) defined as ≥2 hepatic or extrahepatic complications within 4 weeks after AH. The primary exposure was in-hospital alcohol rehabilitation within 3 months following AH. Patients who died (6.5%; n = 5282) or were censored (12.5%; n = 10,180) ≤4 weeks after AH were excluded. We measured adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) within the full cohort and propensity-matched samples.

RESULTS

Among 65,737 patients (median age, 52 years; interquartile range [IQR], 44-60 years; 76% male), 12% died or underwent liver transplantation. In-hospital alcohol rehabilitation was noted for 25% of patients (15.2% among patients with CAH) and was the primary discharge diagnosis for 13.3%. The 1-year transplant-free survival rates were 94% (95% confidence interval [CI], 94%-95%) for rehabilitated patients, compared with 85% (95% CI, 85%-86%) for those without (aHR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.57-0.69; P < .001). Among patients with CAH, transplant-free survival was 78% (95% CI, 76%-81%) with rehabilitation vs 70% (95% CI, 69%-71%) without (aHR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68-0.98; P = .025). In propensity-matched samples, rehabilitation was linked to an aOR of 0.54 (95% CI, 0.49-0.55; P < .001) overall, and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.60-0.89; P = .002) among matched patients with CAH.

CONCLUSIONS

In-hospital alcohol rehabilitation within 3 months after AH and CAH improve transplant-free survival rate but remain underutilized.

Real-world analysis of acamprosate use in patients with cirrhosis and alcohol-associated hepatitis

OBJECTIVE

Preventing return to alcohol is of critical importance for patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis and/or alcohol-associated hepatitis. Acamprosate is a widely used treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). We assessed the impact of acamprosate prescription in patients with advanced liver disease on abstinence rates and clinical outcomes.

METHODS

This was a retrospective case-control study. We reviewed data on all patients admitted to a large tertiary centre in the UK with alcohol-related cirrhosis and/or alcohol-associated hepatitis. We used propensity risk score matching to match patients prescribed acamprosate to controls. The primary outcome was repeat hospitalisation.

RESULTS

There were 451 patients who met the inclusion criteria of whom 55 patients were started on acamprosate during their admission. Before matching there were significant differences between the cohorts. Patients who received acamprosate were younger (median age 51 vs 57, p<0.005), more likely to have a purely alcohol-related admission (53% vs 24%, p<0.001), and more likely to suffer from a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis (42% vs 20%, p<0.001). On average patients who were started on acamprosate consumed more alcohol (median 155 units/week vs 80 units/week, p<0.001), were less likely to have a partner (35% vs 54%, p 0.006) and more likely to be unemployed (67% vs 44%, p<0.001). After matching for factors with significant differences between groups, we generated a cohort of 53 patients prescribed acamprosate and 53 matched controls. At 1 year there was a significantly higher rate of readmission (85% vs 57%, p<0.001) in the acamprosate group. There were no statistically significant differences in abstinence rates or mortality at 1 year.

CONCLUSION

Acamprosate prescription was associated with higher rates of readmission in patients with cirrhosis and/or alcohol-associated hepatitis. This may reflect a greater severity of AUD in those patients or might indicate the limited ability of acamprosate to alter the disease course in this population.

Predictive value of blood coagulation and routine blood indices for rebleeding after endoscopic treatment in hepatitis B-related cirrhotic patients with esophagogastric fundal varices: a logistic regression model analysis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the predictive value of blood coagulation and routine blood indices for rebleeding after endoscopic treatment of ruptured esophagogastric fundal varices (EGVB) in cirrhotic patients with hepatitis B infection.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 248 patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis and EGVB who received initial endoscopic treatment from October 2019 to March 2022 and were followed up for 12 months. Patients were divided into rebleeding and non-rebleeding groups. Laboratory indices were analyzed, and univariate and multivariate analyses identified predictors of rebleeding. The efficacy of a logistic regression model was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA), and a risk factor nomogram was constructed for assessing the predictive efficiency of those risk factors.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis showed significant differences in portal vein diameters and lower Child-Pugh scores in the rebleeding group in contrast to those in the non-rebleeding group. Key laboratory markers such as platelet count (PLT), albumin (ALB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lymphocytes (LYM), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) were lower, while prothrombin time (PT) and lactate levels (LN) were higher in the rebleeding group than those in the non-rebleeding group. Multivariate analysis identified portal vein diameter, PLT, ALT, PT, LYM, and PNI as significant predictors of rebleeding. The logistic model demonstrated high accuracy (AUC=0.986) and clinical value, validated by ROC curves, calibration curves (C-index =0.986), and DCA results. A risk factor predictive nomogram was successfully constructed.

CONCLUSION

This study developed a logistic regression model with a nomogram for predicting EGVB-related rebleeding in patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis, achieving an AUC of 0.986, indicating high accuracy and significant clinical relevance.

Meta-analysis: Prevalence and impact of alcohol abstinence in alcohol-associated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

Although alcohol abstinence may be an effective intervention for alcohol-associated cirrhosis, its association with prognosis has not been systematically assessed or quantified.

AIMS

To determine the prevalence of alcohol abstinence, factors associated with alcohol abstinence and the impact of abstinence on morbidity and overall survival in people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

METHODS

We searched Medline and Embase from inception to 15 April 2023 for prospective and retrospective cohort studies describing alcohol abstinence in people with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis. Meta-analysis of proportions for pooled estimates was performed. The method of inverse variance, employing a random-effects model, was used to pool the hazard ratio (HR) comparing outcomes of abstinent against non-abstinent individuals with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

RESULTS

We included 19 studies involving 18,833 people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis. The prevalence of alcohol abstinence was 53.8% (CI: 44.6%-62.7%). Over a mean follow-up duration of 48.6 months, individuals who continued to consume alcohol had significantly lower overall survival compared to those who were abstinent (HR: 0.611, 95% CI: 0.506-0.738). These findings remained consistent in sensitivity/subgroup analysis for the presence of decompensation, study design and studies that assessed abstinence throughout follow-up. Alcohol abstinence was associated with a significantly lower risk of hepatic decompensation (HR: 0.612, 95% CI: 0.473-0.792).

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol abstinence is associated with substantial improvement in overall survival in alcohol-associated cirrhosis. However, only half of the individuals with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis are abstinent.