The clinical course of alcoholic cirrhosis: development of comorbid diseases. A Danish nationwide cohort study

Surgical procedures in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis: a Danish nationwide register-based cohort study

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Alcohol-related cirrhosis (ALD cirrhosis) is a chronic liver disease caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Patients with ALD cirrhosis have increased risk of conditions that may require surgery for example gallstones, gastrointestinal cancers, and hernias, but surgeons may prefer to avoid surgery due to patients' increased risk of complications. We compared the incidence of surgery between patients with ALD cirrhosis and matched comparators.

METHODS

We used nationwide healthcare registries to include all Danish citizens diagnosed with ALD cirrhosis in 1996-2018. Follow-up began at the time of cirrhosis diagnosis and ended at death or 10 years after diagnosis. We compared their incidence rates and cumulative risks of surgery (excluding biopsies, punctures, drainages, injections, and diagnostic endoscopies) with those for a gender- and age-matched comparator cohort from the general Danish population.

RESULTS

We included 23,050 patients with ALD cirrhosis and 113,412 matched comparators. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) for surgery overall was 3.38 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.34-3.41] for patients vs. comparators. The 1-year risk of surgery was 42.6% [95% CI: 42.4-42.9] for patients vs. 13.4% [95% CI: 13.3-13.6] for comparators. Abdominal procedures were the most frequent surgical category for the patients with an IRR of 6.55 [95% CI: 6.41-6.69] for patients vs. comparators.

CONCLUSIONS

We found an increased risk of surgery for patients with ALD cirrhosis compared with the general Danish population. Given the frequency of surgery in these high-risk patients, further research should focus on perioperative management to optimize outcomes.

Can Plasma Volume Determination in Cirrhosis Be Replaced by an Algorithm Using Body Weight and Hematocrit?

BACKGROUND

Patients with cirrhosis often develop hyperdynamic circulation with increased cardiac output, heart rate, and redistribution of the circulating volume with expanded plasma volume (PV). PV determination is part of the evaluation of patients with cirrhosis, but gold-standard methods are invasive, expensive, and time-consuming. Therefore, other estimations of PV would be preferable, and the aim of this study was therefore to study if PV, as assessed by a simplified algorithm based on hematocrit and weight, can replace the gold-standard method.

METHODS

We included 328 patients with cirrhosis who had their PV assessed by the indicator dilution technique as the gold-standard method (PVI-125). Actual PV was estimated as PVa = (1 - hematocrit)·(a + (b·body weight)). Ideal PV was estimated as PVi = c · body weight, where a, b, and c are constants.

RESULTS

PVI-125, PVa, and PVi were 3.99 ± 1.01, 3.09 ± 0.54, and 3.01 ± 0.65 (Mean ± SD), respectively. Although PVI-125 correlated significantly with PVa (r = 0.72, p < 0.001), a Bland-Altman plot revealed wide limits of confidence.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of simplified algorithms does not sufficiently estimate PV and cannot replace the indicator dilution technique.

Molecular mechanisms of alcohol's effects on the human body: A review and update

Alcohol consumption has been linked to numerous negative health outcomes although it has some beneficial effects on moderate dosages, the most severe of which being alcohol-induced hepatitis. The number of people dying from this liver illness has been shown to climb steadily over time, and its prevalence has been increasing. Researchers have found that alcohol consumption primarily affects the brain, leading to a wide range of neurological and psychological diseases. High-alcohol-consumption addicts not only experienced seizures, but also ataxia, aggression, social anxiety, and variceal hemorrhage that ultimately resulted in death, ascites, and schizophrenia. Drugs treating this liver condition are limited and can cause serious side effects like depression. Serine-threonine kinases, cAMP protein kinases, protein kinase C, ERK, RACK 1, Homer 2, and more have all been observed to have their signaling pathways disrupted by alcohol, and alcohol has also been linked to epigenetic changes. In addition, alcohol consumption induces dysbiosis by changing the composition of the microbiome found in the gastrointestinal tract. Although more studies are needed, those that have been done suggest that probiotics aid in keeping the various microbiota concentrations stable. It has been argued that reducing one's alcohol intake may seem less harmful because excessive drinking is a lifestyle disorder.

Global prevalence, incidence, and outcomes of alcohol related liver diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Alcohol related liver disease (ARLD) is one of the major chronic liver diseases worldwide. This review aimed to describe the global prevalence, incidence, and outcomes of ARLD.

METHODS

Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched from inception to May 31, 2022. The language was restricted to English or Chinese. According to the criteria, articles describing the basic characteristics of the population were selected. Two reviewers extracted the data independently.

RESULTS

A total of 372 studies were identified: 353 were used for prevalence analysis, 7 were used for incidence analysis, and 114 were used to for outcome analysis. The prevalence of ARLD worldwide was 4.8%. The prevalence in males was 2.9%, which was higher than female (0.5%). Among the ethnic groups, the percentage was highest in Caucasians (68.9%). Alcoholic liver cirrhosis comprised the highest proportion in the disease spectrum of ARLD at 32.9%. The prevalence of ascites in ARLD population was highest (25.1%). The ARLD population who drinking for > 20 years accounted for 54.8%, and the average daily alcohol intake was 146.6 g/d. About 59.5% of ARLD patients were current or former smokers, and 18.7% were complicated with hepatitis virus infection. The incidence was 0.208/1000 person-years. The overall mortality was 23.9%, and the liver-related mortality was 21.6%.

CONCLUSION

The global prevalence of ARLD was 4.8% and was affected by sex, region, drinking years, and other factors. Therefore, removing the factors causing a high disease prevalence is an urgent requisite.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO Nr: CRD42021286192.

Incidence of, Risk Factors for, and Outcomes After Ascites in a Population-Based Cohort of Older Americans

BACKGROUND

The incidence of, risk factors for, and outcomes after the development of ascites are poorly described for contemporary patients with cirrhosis.

METHODS

We examined data for a 20% random sample of US Medicare enrollees with cirrhosis and Part D prescription coverage from 2008 to 2019, excluding patients with heart failure and diuretic use prior to cirrhosis. Among 63,364 persons with cirrhosis, we evaluated the incidence of ascites using an Aalen-Johansen estimator. We evaluated risk factors for ascites, mortality, and mortality after ascites using multistate modeling. We determined the associations with each outcome for an array of medication exposures including nonselective beta-blockers, antiviral therapy, statins, rifaximin, anticoagulants, and metformin.

RESULTS

The cumulative incidence of ascites was 5.1%, 9.5%, and 10.7% and 1, 3, and 5 years overall. The corresponding data for ascites requiring paracentesis were 1%, 2.1%, and 2.4%. Persons aged < 65 years, with alcohol-related cirrhosis, varices, or HE, are most likely to develop ascites. The risk of ascites was higher for persons taking any NSBB (including carvedilol) but lower for those taking atorvastatin (but not other statins) and antiviral therapy for Hepatitis C. Incident ascites was associated with increased risk of death, HR 27.6 95%CI(21.7-35.1). Survival following ascites was 1.08 years (interquartile range, IQR, 0.26-2.75), 0.38 years (IQR0.1-1.3) for those requiring paracentesis. Lipophilic statins were the only medications associated with lower mortality after ascites requiring paracentesis.

CONCLUSIONS

Ascites is associated with a high risk of death. Very few candidate therapies are associated with the reduction in the risk of ascites and mortality after ascites development.

Role of circadian rhythm and autonomic nervous system in liver function: a hypothetical basis for improving the management of hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common, incapacitating complication of cirrhosis that affects many patients with cirrhosis. Although several therapies have proven effective in the treatment and prevention of this condition, several patients continue to suffer from covert disease or episodes of relapse. The circadian rhythm has been demonstrated to be pivotal for many body functions, including those of the liver. Here, we explore the impact of circadian rhythm-dependent signaling on the liver and discuss the evidence of its impact on liver pathology and metabolism. We describe the various pathways through which circadian influences are mediated. Finally, we introduce a novel method for improving patient response to drugs aimed at treating HE by utilizing the circadian rhythm. A digital system that introduces a customization-based technique for improving the response to therapies is presented as a hypothetical approach for improving the effectiveness of current medications used for the treatment of recurrent and persistent hepatic encephalopathy.

Mortality After Extrahepatic Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Wall Surgery in Patients With Alcoholic Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AIMS

This meta-analysis aimed to define the perioperative risk of mortality in patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) undergoing extrahepatic gastrointestinal surgery.

METHODS

Systematic searches of Embase, Medline and CENTRAL were undertaken to identify studies reporting about patients with ALD undergoing extrahepatic gastrointestinal surgery published since database inception to January 2019. Studies were only considered if they reported on mortality as an outcome. Pooled analysis of mortality was stratified as benign and malignant surgery and specific operative procedures where feasible.

RESULTS

Of the 2899 studies identified, only five studies met inclusion criteria, representing cholecystectomy (one study), umbilical hernia repair surgery (one study) and oesophagectomy (three studies). The total number of patients with ALD in these studies was 172. Therefore, any study on liver disease patients undergoing extrahepatic surgery that crucially included a subset with alcohol aetiology was included as a secondary analysis even though they failed to stratify mortality by underlying aetiology. The total number of studies that met this expanded inclusion criteria was 62, reporting on 37,703 patients with liver disease of which 1735 (4.5%) had a definite diagnosis of ALD. Meta-analysis of proportions of in-hospital mortality in patients with ALD undergoing upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery (oesophagectomy) was 23% [95% confidence interval (CI) 14-35%, I2 = 0%]. In-hospital mortality following oesophagectomy in liver disease patients of all aetiologies was lower, 14% (95% CI 9-21%, I2 = 41.1%).

CONCLUSION

Postoperative in-hospital mortality is high in patients with liver disease and ALD in particular. However, the currently available evidence on ALD is limited and precludes definitive conclusions on postoperative mortality risk.

SACRED: Effect of simvastatin on hepatic decompensation and death in subjects with high-risk compensated cirrhosis: Statins and Cirrhosis: Reducing Events of Decompensation

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The development of decompensation in cirrhosis demarcates a marked change in the natural history of chronic liver disease. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) exert pleiotropic effects that reduce inflammation and fibrosis as well as improve vascular reactivity. Retrospective studies uniformly have associated statin utilization with improved outcomes for patients with cirrhosis. Prospective human studies have shown that statins reduce portal hypertension and reduce death in patients with decompensated cirrhosis after variceal hemorrhage when added to standard therapy with an acceptable safety profile. This proposal aims to extend these findings to demonstrate that simvastatin reduces incident hepatic decompensation events among cirrhotic patients at high risk for hepatic decompensation.

METHODS

We will perform the SACRED Trial (NCT03654053), a phase III, prospective, multi-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial at 11 VA Medical Centers. Patients with compensated cirrhosis with clinically significant portal hypertension will be stratified based upon the concomitant use of nonselective beta-blockers and randomized to simvastatin 40 mg/day versus placebo for up to 24 months. Patients will be observed for the development of hepatic decompensation (variceal hemorrhage, ascites, encephalopathy), hepatocellular carcinoma, liver-related death, death from any cause, and/or complications of statin therapy. Ancillary studies will evaluate patient-reported outcomes and pharmacogenetic corollaries of safety and/or efficacy.

CONCLUSION

Statins have a long track-record of safety and tolerability. This class of medications is generic and inexpensive, and thus, if the hypothesis is proven, there will be few barriers to widespread acceptance of the role of statins to prevent decompensation in patients with compensated cirrhosis. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03654053.

Alcohol use disorder and the liver

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) cause a range of physical harms, but the major cause of alcohol-related mortality is alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), in some countries accounting for almost 90% of alcohol-related deaths. The risk of ALD has an exponential relationship with increasing alcohol consumption, but is also associated with genetic factors, other life-style factors and social deprivation. ALD includes a spectrum of progressive pathology, from liver steatosis to fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. There are no specific treatments for liver cirrhosis, but abstinence from alcohol is key to limit progression of the disease. Over time, cirrhosis can progress (often silently) to decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Liver transplantation may be suitable for patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis and may also be used as a curative intervention for HCC, but only for a few selected patients, and complete abstinence is a prerequisite. Patients with AUD are also at risk of developing alcoholic hepatitis, which has a high mortality and limited evidence for effective therapies. There is a strong evidence base for the effectiveness of psychosocial and pharmacological interventions for AUD, but very few of these have been trialled in patients with comorbid ALD. Integrated specialist alcohol and hepatology collaborations are required to develop interventions and pathways for patients with ALD and ongoing AUD.

Trends in Premature Deaths From Alcoholic Liver Disease in the U.S., 1999-2018

INTRODUCTION

So-called deaths of despair-those involving drug overdoses, alcohol-related liver disease, and suicide-have been rising in the U.S. among middle-aged white, non-Hispanic adults without a college degree. Premature deaths (ages 25-69) from alcoholic liver disease were examined specifically in this study from 1999 to 2018, by sex, race/Hispanic origin, and age group.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the 1999-2018 Multiple Cause of Death database and bridged-race estimates of the U.S. resident population, including 281,243 alcoholic liver disease deaths or an average of 8 deaths per 100,000 population. Analyses examined alcoholic liver disease death rates for sex differences among 3 age groups (25-49, 50-59, and 60-69 years), by race and Hispanic origin, from 1999 to 2018; age-adjusted and age-specific annual percentage changes (accounted for cohorts); years of potential life lost; and age of death for sociodemographic backgrounds, alcoholic liver disease clinical courses, and comortalities.

RESULTS

White non-Hispanics increasingly experienced greater alcoholic liver disease mortality than black non-Hispanics and Hispanics, confirming the racial and ethnic crossover observed in previous studies. Although men consistently had higher rates of mortality, male-to-female ratios decreased in the past 2 decades and were the lowest among ages 25-49 years and especially among ages 25-34 years. Although women generally had longer life expectancies, women died of alcoholic liver disease on average about 2-3 years earlier than men.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention and intervention efforts are imperative to address the narrowing sex gap and widening racial disparities in alcoholic liver disease premature deaths.

Alcoholic liver disease: A registry view on comorbidities and disease prediction

Alcoholic-related liver disease (ALD) is the cause of more than half of all liver-related deaths. Sustained excess drinking causes fatty liver and alcohol-related steatohepatitis, which may progress to alcoholic liver fibrosis (ALF) and eventually to alcohol-related liver cirrhosis (ALC). Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify patients with early-stage ALD, as these are largely asymptomatic. Consequently, the majority of ALD patients are only diagnosed by the time ALD has reached decompensated cirrhosis, a symptomatic phase marked by the development of complications as bleeding and ascites. The main goal of this study is to discover relevant upstream diagnoses helping to understand the development of ALD, and to highlight meaningful downstream diagnoses that represent its progression to liver failure. Here, we use data from the Danish health registries covering the entire population of Denmark during nineteen years (1996-2014), to examine if it is possible to identify patients likely to develop ALF or ALC based on their past medical history. To this end, we explore a knowledge discovery approach by using high-dimensional statistical and machine learning techniques to extract and analyze data from the Danish National Patient Registry. Consistent with the late diagnoses of ALD, we find that ALC is the most common form of ALD in the registry data and that ALC patients have a strong over-representation of diagnoses associated with liver dysfunction. By contrast, we identify a small number of patients diagnosed with ALF who appear to be much less sick than those with ALC. We perform a matched case-control study using the group of patients with ALC as cases and their matched patients with non-ALD as controls. Machine learning models (SVM, RF, LightGBM and NaiveBayes) trained and tested on the set of ALC patients achieve a high performance for data classification (AUC = 0.89). When testing the same trained models on the small set of ALF patients, their performance unsurprisingly drops a lot (AUC = 0.67 for NaiveBayes). The statistical and machine learning results underscore small groups of upstream and downstream comorbidities that accurately detect ALC patients and show promise in prediction of ALF. Some of these groups are conditions either caused by alcohol or caused by malnutrition associated with alcohol-overuse. Others are comorbidities either related to trauma and life-style or to complications to cirrhosis, such as oesophageal varices. Our findings highlight the potential of this approach to uncover knowledge in registry data related to ALD.

Alcohol use disorder and liver transplant: new perspectives and critical issues

Alcoholic liver disease is a consolidated indication for liver transplantation, but many unsolved issues can be highlighted. Patients with alcohol use disorder develop peculiar comorbidities that can become contraindications for transplantation. Moreover, a number of social and psychological patterns should be evaluated to select candidates with a low risk of alcohol relapse and adequate post-transplant adherence. In this context, the 6-month rule is too rigid to be widely applied. A short period of abstinence (1 to 3 months) is useful to estimate recovery of liver function and, possibly to avoid transplant. Cardiovascular disorders and extra-hepatic malignancies represent the main clinical issues after transplant. Patients transplanted due to alcoholic disease are a major risk for other liver diseases. Severe corticosteroid-resistant alcoholic acute hepatitis is a debated indication for transplant. However, available data indicate that well-selected patients have excellent post-transplant outcomes. Behavioral therapy, continued psychological support and a multidisciplinary team are essential to achieve and maintain complete alcohol abstinence during the transplant process. Alcoholic liver disease is an excellent indication for a liver transplant but patients with alcohol use disorder deserve a personalized approach and dedicated resources.

The natural history of alcohol-related liver disease

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review will describe the natural history of alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD) in light of recent data that have synthesized existing knowledge on this topic and described new research cohorts to improve our understanding of progression and outcomes in ArLD.

RECENT FINDINGS

ArLD occurs after a threshold of alcohol consumption, but this threshold is lowered by the presence of comorbid factors of which obesity is the most common. The most common stage of ArLD is alcohol-related steatosis: this is associated with a low rate of progression to cirrhosis (3%/year) and nonliver-related morbidity is more likely (4 versus 1%/year). In contrast, alcohol-related steatohepatitis or cirrhosis is more dangerous with higher rates of both nonliver and liver-related mortality. Hepatocellular carcinoma occurs at approximately 3%/year amongst people with ArLD cirrhosis.

SUMMARY

These data allow an understanding of ArLD to accurately counsel patients and also to guide public health policies. Awareness of the shortcomings of the available data, highlighted in a recent systematic review, will inform the design of further research in particular to describe the multiple interacting factors that may cause ArLD to regress or progress.

Pathophysiological-based treatments of complications of cirrhosis

Detailed knowledge and understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms and changes in hepatic and splanchnic function leading to the development of haemodynamic changes and portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis are essential since it guides the search for targets to ameliorate liver-related abnormalities. Recent research has focused on the gut-liver axis, changes in intestinal permeability, translocation of bacterial products, and inflammation as important drivers of haemodynamic alterations and thereby targets for treatment. Additionally, treatment strategies should focus on microbiotic modulation, antiangiogenics, anti-inflammatory strategies, and modulation of bile acid metabolism. This paper aims to review contemporary pathophysiological-based treatment principles of the major complications of cirrhosis and portal hypertension and future targets for treatment.

Natural History of Recurrent Alcohol-Related Cirrhosis After Liver Transplantation: Fast and Furious

Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is one of the main indications for liver transplantation (LT). Severe alcohol relapse can rapidly lead to recurrent alcohol-related cirrhosis (RAC) for the graft. The aim of this study was to describe the natural history of RAC and the overall survival after LT and after an RAC diagnosis. From 1992 to 2012, 812 patients underwent primary LT for ALD in 5 French transplant centers. All patients with severe alcohol relapse and an RAC diagnosis on the graft were included. The diagnosis of cirrhosis was based on the analysis of liver biopsy or on the association of clinical, biological, radiological, and/or endoscopic features of cirrhosis. RAC was diagnosed in 57/162 patients (35.2%) with severe alcohol relapse, and 31 (54.4%) of those patients had at least 1 episode of liver decompensation. The main types of decompensation were ascites (70.9%), jaundice (58.0%), and hepatic encephalopathy (9.6%). The cumulative probability of decompensation was 23.8% at 5 years, 50.1% at 10 years, and 69.9% at 15 years after LT. During the follow-up, 36 (63.2%) patients died, the main cause of death being liver failure (61.1%). After diagnosis of cirrhosis, the survival rate was 66.3% at 1 year, 37.8% at 5 years, and 20.6% at 10 years. In conclusion, RAC is associated with a high risk of liver decompensation and a poor prognosis. Prevention of severe alcohol relapse after LT is a major goal to improve patient survival.

The prevalence of Epilepsy and its co-occurrence with alcohol dependence among polish prisoners

Background

For a large part of the prisoners population, the prevalence of many diseases and the number of risk factors are greater than for the general population. In this work, we present an analysis of the prevalence of epilepsy and its co-occurrence with alcohol dependence among prisoners in a Polish penitentiary.

Methods

One and multidimensional logistic regression was used to present the relationship between epilepsy and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and of other variables like: the prisoners’ age, their classification, the unit type, the length of the stay in the penitentiary, and professional activity.

Results

More than 7% of the prisoners had epilepsy. The prevalence was significantly higher in the 40–49 age group and among prisoners aged 50 and older. For prisoners suffering from alcohol dependence, the probability of epilepsy was over four times higher than for prisoners who did not suffer from that condition (OR [95%CI] = 4.09 [1.82–9.17], p = 0.001].

Conclusions

The obtained results show that the prevalence of epilepsy and alcohol dependence in the studied prisoner population was much higher than in the general population of Poles and that alcohol dependence was strongly correlated with epilepsy, independent from other variables. The research allowed to assess the size of the analyzed problem among convicts, however, bearing in mind the multifactorial etiology of epilepsy, the cause and effect relationship between exposure to alcohol and its occurrence would require further in-depth analytical studies taking into account other etiological factors of this disease.

The relationship between a cirrhosis-specific comorbidity scoring system and healthcare utilization patterns

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Patients with liver cirrhosis are impacted by comorbidities that affect healthcare utilization and survival. The study objective was to assess the relationship between a cirrhosis-specific comorbidity scoring system (CirCom) and healthcare utilization among patients with cirrhosis.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using electronic medical records from a large academic-based healthcare network. Patients aged 18-90 years with at least one International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code for cirrhosis (571.2/571.5) between 2009 and 2014, and at least 180 pre-index and 365 days of post-index electronic medical record data were included. Patients were assigned CirCom scores based on comorbidities observed at/before index cirrhosis diagnosis. All-cause/cirrhosis-specific outpatient/hospital utilization was assessed post-index diagnosis across 1 year. Predictors of utilization (age, sex, race, body mass index, etiology, Model for End-stage Liver Disease, and CirCom) were assessed using negative binomial and Poisson regression with robust standard errors.

RESULTS

A total of 957 patients were included. Healthcare utilization according to CirCom demonstrated a positive linear relationship for both all-cause outpatient/hospital utilization, but no relationship was evident for cirrhosis-specific utilization. Increased CirCom was associated with an increased risk of all-cause utilization for both outpatient (relative risk [RR]: 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47-2.07) and hospital (RR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.38-2.12) utilization. However, CirCom showed a statistically non-significant association for cirrhosis-specific outpatient (RR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.91-1.29) and cirrhosis-specific hospital (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.67-1.13) utilization.

CONCLUSIONS

CirCom failed to predict cirrhosis-specific healthcare utilization but did positively predict all-cause utilization for both outpatient and hospital services and therefore may be useful in risk assessment and management of cirrhosis.

Contemporary Epidemiology of Cirrhosis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

We sought to review the contemporary epidemiology of cirrhosis, focusing on the relative burden of the most common chronic liver diseases.

RECENT FINDINGS

The key findings in the review highlight the increasing prevalence and impact of alcohol-related liver disease, particularly among young people, and the epidemic of nonalcoholic fatty liver commensurate with rising rates of obesity. We also contrast recent advances in the care of persons with hepatitis C with the lamentable rise in new infections associated with intravenous drug use. Finally, we highlight the impact of both conventional complications of cirrhosis (namely hepatic encephalopathy) but also the host of patient-reported outcomes adversely impacted by the symptoms of cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is associated with an expanding footprint in contemporary public health. In order to improve global outcomes, we must not only focus on the identifying and treating persons with viral hepatitis but also preventing the rise of alcohol-related liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease while attending to the urgent patient-centered needs posed by the symptoms of cirrhosis.

Estimate of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

More than 90% of cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occur in patients with cirrhosis, of which alcohol is a major cause. The CIRRAL cohort aimed to assess the burden of complications in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, particularly the occurrence of HCC.

METHODS

Patients with biopsy-proven compensated alcoholic cirrhosis were included then prospectively followed. The main endpoint was the incidence of HCC. Secondary outcomes were incidence of hepatic focal lesions, overall survival (OS), liver-related mortality and event-free survival (EFS).

RESULTS

From October 2010 to April 2016, 652 patients were included in 22 French and Belgian centers. During follow-up (median 29 months), HCC was diagnosed in 43 patients. With the limitation derived from the uncertainty of consecutive patients' inclusion and from a sizable proportion of dropouts (153/652), the incidence of HCC was 2.9 per 100 patient-years, and one- and two-year cumulative incidences of 1.8% and 5.2%, respectively. Although HCC fulfilled the Milan criteria in 33 cases (77%), only 24 patients (56%) underwent curative treatment. An explorative prognostic analysis showed that age, male gender, baseline alpha-fetoprotein, bilirubin and prothrombin were significantly associated with the risk of HCC occurrence. Among 73 deaths, 61 had a recorded cause and 27 were directly attributable to liver disease. At two years, OS, EFS and cumulative incidences of liver-related deaths were 93% (95% CI 90.5-95.4), 80.3% (95% CI 76.9-83.9), and 3.2% (95% CI 1.6-4.8) respectively.

CONCLUSION

This large prospective cohort incompletely representative of the whole population with alcoholic cirrhosis showed: a) an annual incidence of HCC of up to 2.9 per 100 patient-years, suggesting that surveillance might be cost effective in these patients; b) a high proportion of HCC detected within the Milan criteria, but only one-half of detected HCC cases were referred for curative treatments; c) a two-year mortality rate of up to 7%.

LAY SUMMARY

Cirrhosis is a risk factor for primary liver cancer, leading to recommendations for periodic screening. However, for alcohol-related liver disease the rational of periodic screening for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial, as registry and databased studies have suggested a low incidence of HCC in these patients and highly competitive mortality rates. In this study, a large cohort of patients with biopsy-proven alcoholic cirrhosis prospectively screened for HCC demonstrated a high annual incidence of HCC (2.9%) and a high percentage of small cancers theoretically eligible for curative treatment. This suggests that patients with liver disease related to alcohol should not be ruled out of screening.

Favorable clinical outcome of nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis patients with coronary artery disease: A population-based study

AIM

To elucidate the prevalence and risk of mortality of nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis (LC) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODS

The study cohort included newly diagnosed nonalcoholic LC patients age ≥ 40 years old without a diagnosis of CAD from 2006 until 2011 from a longitudinal health insurance database. The mean follow-up period for the study cohort was 1152 ± 633 d. The control cohort was matched by sex, age, residence, and index date. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model and the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

After exclusion, a total of 3409 newly diagnosed nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients were identified from one million samples from the health insurance database. We found that CAD (5.1% vs 17.4%) and hyperlipidemia (20.6% vs 24.1%) were less prevalent in nonalcoholic LC patients than in normal subjects (all P < 0.001), whereas other comorbidities exhibited an increased prevalence. Among the comorbidities, chronic kidney disease exhibited the highest risk for mortality (adjusted HR (AHR) = 1.76; 95%CI: 1.55-2.00, P < 0.001). Ascites or peritonitis exhibited the highest risk of mortality among nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients (AHR = 2.34; 95%CI: 2.06-2.65, P < 0.001). Finally, a total of 170 patients developed CAD after a diagnosis of nonalcoholic LC. The AHR of CAD in nonalcoholic LC patients was 0.56 (95%CI: 0.43-0.74, P < 0.001). The six-year survival rates for nonalcoholic LC patients with and without CAD were 52% and 50%, respectively (P = 0.012).

CONCLUSION

We conclude that CAD was less prevalent and associated with a reduced risk of mortality in nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients.

Liver transplantation and alcoholic liver disease: History, controversies, and considerations

Alcohol consumption accounts for 3.8% of annual global mortality worldwide, and the majority of these deaths are due to alcoholic liver disease (ALD), mainly alcoholic cirrhosis. ALD is one of the most common indications for liver transplantation (LT). However, it remains a complicated topic on both medical and ethical grounds, as it is seen by many as a "self-inflicted disease". One of the strongest ethical arguments against LT for ALD is the probability of relapse. However, ALD remains a common indication for LT worldwide. For a patient to be placed on an LT waiting list, 6 mo of abstinence must have been achieved for most LT centers. However, this "6-mo rule" is an arbitrary threshold and has never been shown to affect survival, sobriety, or other outcomes. Recent studies have shown similar survival rates among individuals who undergo LT for ALD and those who undergo LT for other chronic causes of end-stage liver disease. There are specific factors that should be addressed when evaluating LT patients with ALD because these patients commonly have a high prevalence of multisystem alcohol-related changes. Risk factors for relapse include the presence of anxiety or depressive disorders, short pre-LT duration of sobriety, and lack of social support. Identification of risk factors and strengthening of the social support system may decrease relapse among these patients. Family counseling for LT candidates is highly encouraged to prevent alcohol consumption relapse. Relapse has been associated with unique histopathological changes, graft damage, graft loss, and even decreased survival in some studies. Research has demonstrated the importance of a multidisciplinary evaluation of LT candidates. Complete abstinence should be attempted to overcome addiction issues and to allow spontaneous liver recovery. Abstinence is the cornerstone of ALD therapy. Psychotherapies, including 12-step facilitation therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and motivational enhancement therapy, help support abstinence. Nutritional therapy helps to reverse muscle wasting, weight loss, vitamin deficiencies, and trace element deficiencies associated with ALD. For muscular recovery, supervised physical activity has been shown to lead to a gain in muscle mass and improvement of functional activity. Early LT for acute alcoholic hepatitis has been the subject of recent clinical studies, with encouraging results in highly selected patients. The survival rates after LT for ALD are comparable to those of patients who underwent LT for other indications. Patients that undergo LT for ALD and survive over 5 years have a higher risk of cardiorespiratory disease, cerebrovascular events, and de novo malignancy.

A validation study of the CirCom comorbidity score in an English cirrhosis population using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink

Purpose

The CirCom score has been developed from Danish data as a specific measure of comorbidity for cirrhosis to predict all-cause mortality. We compared its performance with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) in an English cirrhosis population.

Patients and methods

We used comorbidity scores in a survival model to predict mortality in a cirrhosis cohort in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. The discrimination of each score was compared by age, gender, socioeconomic status, cirrhosis etiology, cirrhosis stage, and year after cirrhosis diagnosis. We also measured their ability to predict liver-related versus non-liver-related death.

Results

There was a small improvement in the C statistic from the model using the CirCom score (C=0.63) compared to the CCI (C=0.62), and there was an overall improvement in the net reclassification index of 1.5%. The improvement was more notable in younger patients, those with an alcohol etiology, and those with compensated cirrhosis. Both scores performed better (C statistic >0.7) for non-liver-related deaths than liver-related deaths (C statistic <0.6), as comorbidity was only weakly predictive of liver-related death.

Conclusion

The CirCom score provided a small improvement in performance over the CCI in the prediction of all-cause and non-liver mortality, but not liver-related mortality. Therefore, it is important to include a measure of comorbidity in studies of cirrhosis survival, alongside a measure of cirrhosis severity.

Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Mortality Among People With Type 2 Diabetes and Alcoholic or Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Hospital Admission

OBJECTIVE

To describe associations between alcoholic liver disease (ALD) or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) hospital admission and cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and mortality in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study by using linked population-based routine data from diabetes registry, hospital, cancer, and death records for people aged 40-89 years diagnosed with T2DM in Scotland between 2004 and 2013 who had one or more hospital admission records. Liver disease and outcomes were identified by using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusting for key risk factors.

RESULTS

A total of 134,368 people with T2DM (1,707 with ALD and 1,452 with NAFLD) were studied, with a mean follow-up of 4.3 years for CVD and 4.7 years for mortality. Among those with ALD, NAFLD, or without liver disease hospital records 378, 320, and 21,873 CVD events; 268, 176, and 15,101 cancers; and 724, 221, and 16,203 deaths were reported, respectively. For ALD and NAFLD, respectively, adjusted HRs (95% CIs) compared with the group with no record of liver disease were 1.59 (1.43, 1.76) and 1.70 (1.52, 1.90) for CVD, 40.3 (28.8, 56.5) and 19.12 (11.71, 31.2) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 1.28 (1.12, 1.47) and 1.10 (0.94, 1.29) for non-HCC cancer, and 4.86 (4.50, 5.24) and 1.60 (1.40, 1.83) for all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospital records of ALD or NAFLD are associated to varying degrees with an increased risk of CVD, cancer, and mortality among people with T2DM.

High burden of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

Population studies report increased cardiovascular mortality in patients with cirrhosis. Coronary artery disease may be a trait of end-stage liver disease, but whether it is frequent or extensive in cirrhosis in general is unknown. Thus, we aimed to assess the prevalence and extent of coronary artery disease in unselected cirrhosis patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Using coronary computed tomography angiography, we investigated 52 patients from all Child-Pugh classes and aetiologies of cirrhosis without known cardiac disease for presence and severity of coronary artery disease in a cross-sectional design. Persons referred with new-onset chest pain served as controls.

RESULTS

The prevalence of coronary artery disease was not significantly different between cirrhosis patients and controls (77% vs. 65%, P=0·19). However, cirrhosis patients had a markedly higher coronary artery calcification (Agatston) score than controls (120 [interquartile range, 0-345] vs. 5 [interquartile range, 0-86] HU, P=0·001). Likewise, patients with cirrhosis had a higher prevalence of extensive (≥5 coronary segments involved; 45% vs. 18%, P=0·01) and multivessel coronary disease (≥2 vessels involved; 75% vs. 53%, P=0·02). Furthermore, the total plaque volume whether noncalcified or calcified was higher in cirrhosis (117 [interquartile range, 0-310] vs. 36 [interquartile range, 0-148] mm³ , P=0·02).

CONCLUSION

Coronary artery disease is equally prevalent in patients with cirrhosis and subjects with new-onset chest pain, but cirrhosis patients have more extensive and severe disease including several coronary high-risk features associated with myocardial ischaemia and a poor clinical outcome. The potential of preventive measures for coronary artery disease in cirrhosis needs attention.