Active clinical trials for "Hepatorenal Syndrome"

This Study will look at the effect of substances called "angiogenic factors"(development of new blood vessels) have on the development of severe liver disease. The results may help to understand the factors involved in the repair and regeneration of liver tissue and to see if different types of liver disease are associated with different types of factors, especially in the severe liver disease called hepatorenal syndrome.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the treatment with midodrine, octreotide and albumin during 12 weeks in patients with hepatorenal syndrome. Fifteen patients will be enrolled and followed during 16 weeks. The effects on renal function will be evaluated 12 and 16 weeks after the beginning of the treatment by isotopic evidence and biochemist determinations. Also it will be evaluated arterial pressure and determination of vasoactive hormones (plasma renin, aldosterone and norepinephrine).

All consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis having Acute Kidney Injury at admission or during hospitalization will be included in the study. The diagnosis of liver cirrhosis will be based on the clinical grounds including Laboratory tests, endoscopic evidence, imaging (Ultrasonography/computed tomography) findings, and liver histology, when available.

Norfloxacin is the most commonly used drug for the prophylaxis against spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in patients with liver cirrhosis. Rifaximin, another broad spectrum antibiotic with only trivial absorption from the gut, is used for the treatment of traveler's diarrhea and prevention of hepatic encephalopathy.

Observe the effect of terlipressin on renal function in patients with SHR type I adjusting the dose based on hemodynamic response.

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a disease in which patients with cirrhosis (end stage liver failure) develop secondary kidney injury and failure. The current treatment available in the United States is a combination of octreotide and midodrine, which are meant to decrease the release of those hormones and raise the blood pressure, respectively, which would increase blood flow to the kidneys. Angiotensin 2 (Ang2) is a new vasopressor drug that was approved by the FDA in December 2017 for patients with low blood pressure and has been shown to have similar effects to octreotide and midodrine. This study will investigate whether Ang2 reverses HRS among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Our study population will be patients with HRS who are already or will be admitted to the ICU. HRS will be defined by new internationally accepted guidelines published by the International Club of Ascites. All patients who are consented will undergo an Ang2 response trial, where low-dose Ang2 will be administered for 4 hours to see how the patients respond. This will help us characterize the nature of the patients' kidney failure for later analysis. Patients will then be randomized into the control group or the study group. Patients in the control group will receive octreotide (a subcutaneous injection) and midodrine (an oral drug). Patients in the study group will continue receiving intravenous infusion of Ang2. Patients in both groups will also receive albumin, a protein found commonly in human blood. Treatment will continue in both groups for four days, until complete reversal of HRS, dialysis, or death. Our primary outcome will be rate of reversal of HRS, defined as improvement in kidney function.

It is well known that terlipressin and albumin improve renal function in patients with cirrhosis and type 1 HRS. In previous studies terlipressin has been used either as intravenous boluses moving from an initial dose of 0.5-1 mg/4 hr or as continuous intravenous infusion at the initial dose of 2 mg/24 h. Up to now the two schedules of i.v. administration of terlipressin have never been compared. Nevertheless, it has been hypothesized that continuous intravenous infusion assures a more steady profile of effect on portal pressure in patients with cirrhosis. Thus, the aim of the study will be to compare terlipressin given as i.v. bolus vs terlipressin given as continuous intravenous infusion in the treatment of type 1 HRS in patients with cirrhosis.

This prospective study focuses on the interest of the echocardiography for cirrhotic patients, who present acute kidney injury corresponding to the criteria of hepatorenal syndrome. This echocardiography will be done before the volemic expansion and the final diagnostic of hepatorenal syndrome or prerenal azotemia. The primary endpoint is to describe the hemodynamic characteristics of this population at the time of acute kidney injury and their association with diagnostic of hepatorenal syndrome or prerenal azotemia. Patients with elevated filling pressure, predicting poor outcome of volemic expansion will be excluded of the study after the echocardiography and will not undergo volemic expansion but appropriate management.

Advanced liver disease and low ascitic fluid protein concentration have been identified as risk factors for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis. Moreover, renal impairment and hyponatremia increase mortality rate of this infection. Aims: To investigate if oral administration of norfloxacin prevents the first episode of SBP, hepatorenal syndrome and improves survival in cirrhotic patients with ascites and low protein concentration in ascitic fluid (<15 g/L) and at least one of the following inclusion criteria: functional renal failure (serum creatinine ≥ 1,2 mg/dl or BUN ≥ 25 mg/dl), hyponatremia (serum sodium ≤ 130 mEq/L) or advanced liver disease (Child ≥ 9 points with serum bilirubin ≥ 3 mg/dl). Methods: Prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial comparing oral norfloxacin (400 mg/d; n=35) with placebo (n=35).

Appreciation of the central role for arterial vasodilatation in the pathogenesis of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) has led to routine use of vasoconstrictors in combination with albumin as a medical therapy for HRS. Terlipressin have been explored but the optimal approach for such therapies has not yet been established. As compared with albumin, treatment with terlipressin and albumin is effective in improving renal function in patients with cirrhosis and hepatorenal syndrome. Our previous study showed that mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a predictor of hepatorenal syndrome occurrence in cirrhotic patients with ascites. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of targeting an early and substantial increase in mean arterial pressure in the prevention of type 2 HRS.