Alcoholic Hepatitis: Prognostic Models and Treatment
Severity scores for alcoholic hepatitis Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a distinct subset of patients with alcoholic liver disease and has a potential for high mortality within 3 to 6 months…
Liver Transplantation in the 21st Century: Expanding the Donor Options
Liver transplantation has evolved since Dr. Thomas Starzl performed the first orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) over 4 decades ago. Advances in immunosuppressive therapy, medical management, surgical technique, and identification of…
Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Locoregional and Targeted Therapies
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The continued rise in HCC incidence and mortality emphasizes the need…
Hepatorenal Syndrome: Do the Vasoconstrictors Work?
Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a potentially reversible clinical syndrome that occurs in patients with cirrhosis, ascites and liver failure, as well as in patients with acute liver failure or alcoholic…
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Pharmacologic and Surgical Options
The association of hepatic steatosis with inflammatory changes and fibrosis in obese patients was first described over half a century ago. Although initially thought to be a relatively benign entity,…
Managing Varices: Drugs, Bands, and Shunts
Up to 50% of patients with cirrhosis have esophageal varices at initial endoscopy, and nearly all patients with varices have a high portal pressure, that is, an hepatic venous pressure…
Acute Liver Failure: Current Practice and Recent Advances
Acute liver failure (ALF), also referred as “fulminant hepatic failure,” is a rare syndrome characterized by rapid onset of severe hepatic dysfunction in the absence of preexistent liver disease. The…
Noninvasive Tools to Assess Hepatic Fibrosis: Ready for Prime Time?
Often regarded as the gold standard for fibrosis assessment, liver biopsy does carry associated risks given its invasive nature. Moreover, liver biopsy is not a true gold standard owing to…
Hepatitis B: Modern End Points of Treatment and the Specter of Viral Resistance
The ultimate goal of treating a chronic infectious disease is the eradication of the infectious agent to prevent organ damage or death. The natural history of untreated chronic hepatitis B…
Emerging Therapies in Hepatitis C: Dawn of the Era of the Direct-Acting Antivirals
Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a worldwide epidemic affecting up to 3% of the world’s population. Approximately 80% of people infected with HCV will go on to develop…
