Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Other investigators have found that in adults the Serum-Ascites Albumin Gradient (SAAG) to be 1.1 g/dl or greater in the presence of portal hypertension (PTHN) and less than that in its absence. We sought to determine the correlation between the level of SAAG and the complications of PTHN, manifested by the presence of esophageal varices in children with ascites. Our study included 26 patients with cirrhosis, diagnosed by liver biopsy and 14 patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS) diagnosed by established criteria. The SAAG was measured in all patients. The patients with cirrhosis had upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy for assessment of esophageal varices (EV). We found that 84.6% (22 of 26) patients with cirrhosis had High SAAG (> or = 1.1 g/dl) and 15.4% (4 of 26) had low SAAG (< 1.1 g/dl) (p < 0.001). EV was found in 91% (20 of 22) patients with high SAAG and in 50% (2 of 4) patients with low SAAG (p = 0.013). The SAAG differentiated cirrhosis with EV from those without EV (sensitivity = 91%, specificity = 50%, positive predictive value = 91%, negative predictive value = 50% and efficacy = 85%). The high SAAG is a useful means to predict the presence of EV in children with ascites.
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PMID:Serum-ascites albumin gradient: a predictor of esophageal varices with ascites. 1145 Mar 80

Hepatic hydrothorax is an infrequent complication of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. Treatment with saline restriction and diuretics is usually effective but when this fails, the therapeutic approach is difficult and multiple complications occur. Transjugular percutaneous intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (IPS) is associated with a marked decrease in portal pressure and consequently this technique has been used in the treatment of refractory ascites. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy, safety and outcome of refractory hepatic hydrothorax treated by IPS. The procedure was performed in 5 patients who were all grade B or C in the Child-Pugh classification. Three patients showed complete response to the treatment, of whom 1 underwent transplantation 20 days later. The fourth patient showed partial response with a reduction in the need to perform thoracocentesis and the fifth patient showed no response to IPS and died after 17 days of follow-up. Albumin levels and Child classification remained unchanged. Two patients presented recurrence with reappearance of hydrothorax due to shunt dysfunction and 2 patients presented hepatic encephalopathy that responded to medical treatment. Refractory hepatic hydrothorax can be controlled by IPS in a large number of patients but its efficacy is restricted by shunt dysfunction, the risk of encephalopathy and by its limited effect on survival.
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PMID:[Percutaneous intrahepatic portosystemic shunting as a treatment for refractory hepatic hydrothorax]. 1186 35

Patients with liver cirrhosis and a superimposed acute injury with progressive hyperbilirubinemia have a high mortality. A prospective, controlled study was performed to test whether hyperbilirubinemia, 30-day survival, and encephalopathy would be improved by extracorporeal albumin dialysis (ECAD). Twenty-four patients were studied; 23 patients had cirrhosis; 1 had a prolonged cholestatic drug reaction and was excluded from per protocol (PP) analysis. Patients had a plasma bilirubin greater than 20 mg/dL and had not responded to prior standard medical therapy (SMT). Patients were randomized to receive SMT with ECAD or without (control). ECAD was performed with an extracorporeal device that dialyzes blood in a hollow fiber dialyzer (MW cutoff < 60 kd) against 15% albumin. Albumin-bound molecules transfer to dialysate albumin that is regenerated continuously by passage through a charcoal and anion exchange column and a conventional dialyzer. ECAD was associated with improved 30-day survival (PP, 11 of 12 ECAD, 6 of 11 controls; log rank P <.05). Plasma bile acids and bilirubin decreased on average by 43% and 29%, respectively, in the ECAD group after 1 week of treatment, but not in the control group. Renal dysfunction and hepatic encephalopathy improved in the ECAD group, but worsened significantly in the control group. ECAD was safe, with adverse events being rare and identical in both groups. In conclusion, ECAD appears to be effective and safe for the short-term treatment of patients with cirrhosis and superimposed acute injury associated with progressive hyperbilirubinemia and may be useful for increasing survival in such patients awaiting liver transplantation.
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PMID:Albumin dialysis in cirrhosis with superimposed acute liver injury: a prospective, controlled study. 1229 54

Albumin was introduced initially in the treatment of patients with cirrhosis and ascites to increase serum albumin concentration due to its oncotic effect. Although its administration declined some years later, at present it constitutes an essential treatment in clinical hepatology. Several studies have clearly demonstrated its efficacy in the prevention and treatment of circulatory dysfunction and hepatorenal syndrome in patients with cirrhosis. These effects can be due not only to its properties as a plasma expander but also to its capacity to bind numerous substances such as bile acids, nitric oxide and cytokines. Based on this capacity an albumin dialysis system (MARS) has recently been developed. The usefulness of this system in the management of patients with acute and chronic liver failure is, at present, under evaluation.
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PMID:Review article: albumin in the treatment of liver diseases--new features of a classical treatment. 1242 47

Renal function abnormalities and ascites in cirrhosis are the final consequence of a circulatory dysfunction characterized by marked splanchnic arterial vasodilation. This causes a reduction in effective arterial blood volume and the homoeostatic activation of vasoconstrictor and sodium-retaining systems. Albumin is very effective in preventing renal failure associated with large-volume paracentesis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, conditions that are known to cause an impairment of circulatory function in patients with cirrhosis and ascites. Moreover, albumin administration improves survival in patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. In patients with hepatorenal syndrome the administration of vasoconstrictor drugs in combination with albumin improves circulatory and renal function markedly and survival slightly. By contrast, the administration of albumin without vasoconstrictors has marginal or no effects on renal function in this setting.
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PMID:Review article: albumin for circulatory support in patients with cirrhosis. 1242 50

Human serum albumin (HSA) binding with endogenous metabolites and drugs is substantially decreased in chronic renal and liver diseases. To test the hypothesis that the decreased binding ability is caused by conformational changes of the protein, we analyzed infrared and Raman spectra of HSA isolated from healthy donors and patients with chronic uremia and liver cirrhosis. Uremia did not affect the secondary structure of HSA but modified the environment of its Asp/Glu residues. Liver cirrhosis increased the amount of extended and beta-structures, modified the environment of Asp/Glu and Tyr side chains, and changed the configuration of disulfide bridges in albumin molecules. The conformational changes of "cirrhotic" albumin were not caused by reversibly bound ligands and resembled a partial unfolding of the protein induced by adsorption on the charcoal surface. The dramatic structural alterations of HSA in liver cirrhosis may be caused by its oxidative modification and might underlie the decreased binding ability and changed body distribution of albumin.
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PMID:Chronic liver and renal diseases differently affect structure of human serum albumin. 1248 4

The appropriateness of albumin use and baseline albumin usage patterns were studied. Institutional practice patterns regarding the use of albumin were compared to criteria established by an independent expert panel. Fifty-three institutions, all of which were members of VHA or the University Health-System Consortium, participated in the evaluation. Investigators collected data over an eight-week period from the medical records, pharmacy records, and hospital billing data of adult (18 years of age or older) and pediatric (age 1-17 years) patients for whom albumin was prescribed. Data collected included patient-specific information, the prescribing physician's specialty area, patient location (level of care) when albumin was prescribed, primary reasons for prescribing albumin, and details of albumin use. Data were collected for 1649 adult and 23 pediatric patients. Albumin was prescribed inappropriately in 57.8% and appropriately in 28.2% of adults; appropriateness of use was unknown in 14% of the patients reviewed. The most common indication for albumin use was hypotension/hypovolemia (23.9%), followed by bypass-pump priming (16.3%), intradialytic blood pressure support (9.6%), and serum albumin values less than 2 g/dL (8.6%). Albumin was prescribed inappropriately 100% of the time when used for intradialytic blood pressure support, low serum albumin values, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The most appropriate use of albumin occurred in patients with postsurgical hypotension and hypovolemia (67.8%), nephrotic syndrome (79.3%), non-hemorrhagic shock (44.3%), hemorrhagic shock (51.9%), and cirrhosis and paracentesis (31.3%). Albumin was inappropriately prescribed for 57.8% of adult patients and 52.2% of pediatric patients. The mean number of total grams used by patients receiving albumin appropriately was similar to those patients inappropriately receiving albumin.
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PMID:Evaluation of the appropriate use of albumin in adult and pediatric patients. 1290 Oct 34

In patients with cirrhosis, ascites accumulates because of sodium retention, triggered by a reduction of the effective arterial blood volume, and imbalanced Starling forces in the splanchnic area due to portal hypertension and hypoalbuminemia. Albumin is the ideal plasma expander in this setting, since it ameliorates systemic and reneal haemodynamics, so reducing sodium retention, and increases oncotic pressure in the splanchnic compartment. In particular, albumin proved useful in patients treated with diuretics, as demonstrated by a randomised study performed at our Instituition in which 126 ascitic inpatients were treated according to a stepped-care diuretic regimen. In fact, patients receiving diuretics plus albumin (n = 63) had a higher cummulative rate of response (p < 0.05) and a shorter hospital stay (20 +/- 1 versus 24 +/- 2 days, p < 0.05) than those given diuretics alone. Treatment with albumin on an outpatient basis (25 g/week) resulted in a lower probability of developing ascites (p < 0.02 vs. patients not given albumin) and a lower probability of readmission (p < 0.02). Patients given albumin also had a better quality of life. As discussed in another article, evidence also supports the use of albumin in patients treated for paracentesis, as well as in patients with spontaneous peritonitis or hepatorenal syndrome.
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PMID:Is the use of albumin of value in the treatment of ascites in cirrhosis? The case in favour. 1456 92

A decreased effective arterial blood volume is the principal haemodynamic disturbance in cirrhosis, leading to activation of the renin angiotensin aldosterone and the sympathetic nervous systems, sodium and water retention and renal impairment. Albumin is a plasma expander that could be used in clinical settings in cirrhosis in which plasma expansion would reverse some of the decreased effective arterial blood volume, or prevent its iatrogenic (i.e., paracenteses) or spontaneous worsening (spontaneous bacterial peritonitis). However, apart from the issue of transmission of prion agents, which may become an important issue in clinical risk management of the use of albumin in the future, the problem with albumin is its expense. Every effort must thus be made to definitely prove albumin is always the best colloid for all clinical settings in cirrhosis. Further randomized trials are justified.
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PMID:Is the use of albumin of value in cirrhosis? The case not so in favour, or is there an alternative? 1456 92

Massive ascites and hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) are frequent complications of liver cirrhosis. Thus, effective therapy is of great clinical importance. This concise review provides an update of recent advances and new developments. Therapeutic paracentesis can be safely performed even in patients with severe coagulopathy. Selected patients with a refractory or recurrent ascites are good candidates for non-surgical portosystemic shunts (TIPS) and may have a survival benefit and improvement of quality of life. Novel pharmaceutical agents mobilizing free water (aquaretics) are currently under test for the therapeutic potential in patients with ascites. Prophylaxis of hepatorenal syndrome in patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is recommended and should be considered in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Liver transplantation is the best therapeutic option with long-term survival benefit for patients with HRS. To bridge the time until transplantation, TIPS or Terlipressin and albumin are good options. Albumin dialysis can not be recommended outside prospective trials.
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PMID:Progress in treatment of massive ascites and hepatorenal syndrome. 1648 62


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