Active clinical trials for "Liver Cirrhosis"

It is an open label observation clinical trial, all participants are liver transplant patients. The investigators deem to make a better criteria for assessing liver fibrosis after liver transplantation. The point of the clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of multiparameter MRI in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis after liver transplantation.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host response. A Subset of sepsis is septic shock which has almost 4-6 times the mortality when compared to sepsis. Septic shock has underlying cellular and metabolic abnormalities in addition to circulatory dysfunction. The circulatory dysfunction in sepsis is in the form of severe vasodilatation with high cardiac index. Cirrhosis is a state of hyperdynamic circulation. The mortality of septic shock in these group of patients is still higher. At the onset of septic shock there is initially an increased secretion of Arginine vasopressin. However, this initial rise is short lasting, and the vasopressin levels come back to normal or low serum levels with continued hypotension. However, even normal levels are too low for the degree of hypotension in septic shock. This causes a relative deficiency of vasopressin in septic shock. The exact time when this fall happens is not known and it is likely to be variable. Vasopressin was therefore tried as an agent in septic shock. Terlipressin is a synthetic analogue of vasopressin. It has a greater selectivity for the V1 receptor. Terlipressin is also shown to be effective in septic shock in cirrhotics3. Other vasoactive agents are not preferred in cirrhotics - dopamine due to high risk of arrhythmias and dobutamine as baseline cardiac output of cirrhotics is high which further increases in sepsis and dobutamine would further add to it. However, it may be given in myocardial dysfunction. Noradrenaline is recommended as the first vasopressor to be started in general in septic shock population. No study has compared the effectiveness of vasopressin and Terlipressin when added to noradrenaline in patients with cirrhosis. Acute kidney injury is a very common complication of septic shock in cirrhotics.

In critically ill patients with liver disease like cirrhosis or ACLF, fluid therapy needs to be instituted after identification of patients who will be fluid responsive and initiate appropriate inotropes early to prevent the mortality associated with fluid overload. The parameters and methodology used for assessing fluid responsiveness have been studied earlier, but the optimum method is not established. Existing recommendations based on data regarding fluid responsiveness and choice of fluid for resuscitation from intensive care units in general cannot be applied to those with liver disease as the hemodynamic alterations that occur with liver disease, presence of hypoalbuminemia at baseline and presence of cardiac dysfunction interfere with the conventional methods of fluid status assessment, fluid responsiveness as well as the response to different types of resuscitation fluids. Therefore the investigators attempt to compare various methods to estimate current intravascular volume status of patient which could be helpful in guiding fluid therapy.

Albumin is commonly used plasma expander in patients of decompensated cirrhosis and has been found to have many beneficial effects, with few studies showing that maintenance of serum albumin levels above 3 g/dl has improved outcomes and mortality leading to widespread utilization in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. While 20% human albumin solution has been subject to in-depth analysis along several fronts, it's effects on coagulation parameters is unknown. With cirrhosis being a state of dysregulated clotting and bleeding, it is imperative to know the effects of such a widely used plasma expander on coagulation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of albumin on coagulation parameters in patients of decompensated cirrhosis.

Evaluation of the tissue stiffness as a surrogate marker of degree of liver cirrhosis has gained popularity in recent decades. Current guidelines also advocate the use of Fibroscan® machine (EchoSens, Paris, France) to detect any advanced liver fibrosis as represented by high liver stiffness, for prediction of varices development. Apart from liver stiffness, studies have shown that spleen stiffness (SS) has been proven another useful parameter to severity of underlying portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis. However, spleen stiffness measurement by Fibroscan® is highly limited by the thickness of subcutaneous soft tissue or abdominal wall tissue, especially in obese subjects. It carries certain technical difficulty as well due to its deep-seated anatomical position. Recently, the technique of endoscopic ultrasound elastography (EUS-E) has been described. It can overcome the limitations of Fibroscan by making measurements of liver and spleen stiffness through the gastric wall, which has a shorter distance than the abdominal wall. It also allows concomitant upper GI tract luminal examination, incorporating both esophagogastroduodenoscopy and elastography measurements into one procedure at the same time. This research study aims to prospectively study the utility of EUS-E in patients with chronic liver diseases, both in terms of diagnostic and prognostic indications for future cirrhotic-related complications.

Investigators wishes to influence the gut microbiota in patients with alcoholic liver disease in a randomized controlled clinical trial. The investigators hypothesize that the alcohol-related dysbiosis seen in these patients can be changed and disease progression haltered by modulating microbiota with probiotics during 24 weeks.

Clinical guidelines (AASLD) recommend the use of abdominal ultrasound (US) for surveillance testing for the early detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). The serum protein biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is commonly used to augment US but its use alone is not recommended by clinical guidelines. Despite evidence that HCC surveillance improves early detection and reduces mortality from HCC, current HCC surveillance tests lack sensitivity, leaving a significant proportion of patients to present with late-stage disease. The Glycotest HCC Panel has shown better sensitivity than AFP, which is ineffective for the detection of early-stage HCC. This clinical study seeks to validate the Glycotest HCC Panel using a large multicenter cohort of cases and controls that includes patients diagnosed with early-stage HCC against a background of cirrhosis and cirrhotic patients without HCC (at risk) undergoing an established surveillance protocol.

Cirrhotic patients are at higher risk of sepsis due to impaired innate and adaptive immune responses. Septic complications represent a major issue in the management of cirrhotic patients, with a 1-month mortality rate of 23%, which increases to 80% at 3 months in case of associated organ failure. Delay to treatment initiation during a septic episode may increase the risk of complications and mortality of cirrhotic patients. However, the inappropriate use of antibiotics exposes cirrhotic patients to the risk of more severe infections due to multi-resistant organisms or fungi. The use of diagnostic markers for sepsis is limited in the context of cirrhosis because of the lack of hepatic synthesis of these markers on the one hand and non-specific inflammation related to cirrhosis on the other hand. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new tools for the early diagnosis of sepsis and appropriate management of cirrhotic patients. The interest of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the diagnosis and prognosis of septic shock has been reported in the general population. No studies have described circulating miRNAs or reported their interest in the diagnosis of sepsis in a population of cirrhotic patients with acute decompensation (AD). This preliminary study of 800 circulating miRNAs will be performed in a cohort of patients with acute cirrhosis decompensation, for whom the incidence of sepsis is estimated at 40%. The aim to evaluate the interest and feasibility of a larger study on the interest of circulating miRNAs in the early diagnosis of sepsis in cirrhotic patients. The long-term objective of this study is the development of biomarkers for the early management of cirrhotic patients with sepsis and the rationalization of antibiotic use to improve their prognosis.

This study is aimed at calculating the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non- alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes in China, evaluating the diagnostic efficacy of FibroTouch for hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in these patients, analyzing the long-term prognosis and screening potential risk factors in patients with both type 2 diabetes and NAFLD. This study will use FibroTouch to screen NAFLD, NASH cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes, compare the results with liver tissue biopsy to assess the clinical value of FibroTouch for the screening of NAFLD in diabetics, then investigate the clinical significance of FibroTouch in assessing the long-term prognosis of patients with diabetes and NAFLD in a prospective cohort, screen risk factors for diabetes with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether early integration of palliative care in the care of hospitalized patients with advanced liver disease (AdvLD) can improve patients' quality of life, physical symptoms, mood, and serious illness communication. Palliative care is a medical specialty focused on lessening (or "palliating") symptoms and assisting in coping with serious illness.