Active clinical trials for "Liver Diseases"

In order to ensure the equity of the liver allocation process, it is important to create objective, scientifically validated markers of frailty in patients with end-stage liver disease that accurately predict patient outcomes. Many measures have been developed to assess this clinical state in elderly patients, but none have been applied to patients with cirrhosis, a population at increased risk for accelerated functional decline. This protocol is designed to learn more about the effects of functional status (also known as "frailty") in liver transplant patients and patient outcomes both before and after liver transplant.

This is a multinational, multicentre, prospective, non-interventional study (NIS) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients with concomitant metabolic syndrome treated with Legalon® combined with diet and exercise.

The purpose of this study is to explore the multiple-dose regimen of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) injection for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is with 25% the most prevalent liver disorder in Western society and is associated with overweight, obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). NAFLD is defined by a hepatic fat accumulation of more than 5% in the absence of classical causes of steatogenesis (e.g. alcohol and steatogenic drugs). It represents a broad spectrum of clinical entities from steatosis to advanced liver disease with hepatic failure. Most of the patients have simple steatosis, however in about 15-30% non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) develops, which leads to an overall increase in morbidity and mortality due to the progression to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with NAFLD have no or few, mainly specific symptoms; and generally there is a silent progression of simple steatosis to NASH and in the end liver-related morbidity and mortality. Despite the clinical importance and the potential impact on healthcare resources, the majority of NAFLD patients are currently not detected due to the lack of non-invasive methods to diagnose NAFLD. To date, the prevalance of NAFLD in Turkey among subjects at risk, and its relation to common comorbidities such as obesity, T2DM and CVD is not clear. Therefore, identification of NAFLD patients in this cohort will give information on the prevalence in the group of uncomplicated overweight and obesity and those with concomitant cardiometabolic diseases. By early detecting these patients at risk to develop progressive liver diseases and extrahepatic manifestations, it will be possible to intervene and improve health. Within this context, this study aims to detect prevalence of NAFLD among risk groups. Also, the risk factors related to NAFLD etiology and progression, such as overweight, obesity, T2DM, CVD, diet and physical activity will be studied to have a better understanding of their presumed causal relationship with NAFLD.

This study is being conducted to assess the safety of Direct Peritoneal Resuscitation (DPR) in high-risk liver transplant patients. The investigators want to also identify if this method of recovery after large surgery has the same benefits in liver transplant patients as have been appreciated in other surgical patients. The combination of elevated BMI and impaired kidney function increases the risk of 1) needing intensive care unit (ICU) admission after surgery, 2) slow function of the new liver [technically termed Early Allograft Dysfunction (EAD)] and 3) need for more than one operation. The study team also aims to identify if DPR can reduce these risks and not cause other unexpected complications following surgery. DPR involves the infusion of a solution into the abdomen and has been shown to reduce edema and improve blood flow in organs. The solution used in this study is a commercially available peritoneal dialysate, a dextrose containing solution that is infused into the abdominal cavity and is routinely used in patients with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 7th most common cause of cancer death globally but only 20% are diagnosed in its early stages where cure is possible. Current standard-of-care surveillance of patients at high risk of developing HCC with 6-monthly serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasound imaging (US) has a sensitivity of approximately 63% for detecting early HCC. There is an urgent need for a more efficacious and convenient modality of surveillance of high-risk patients to diagnose HCC at an early stage. This prospective study aims to address this unmet clinical need by validating a panel of circulating miRNA biomarkers to develop an in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit for the detection of early HCC in a cohort of high-risk patients. Additionally, this study also aims to develop a multi-parametric MRI-based AI algorithm to quantify individual risks of developing HCC and to predict the progression of chronic liver disease in this cohort to enable targeted surveillance. Lastly, by identifying changes in the microbiome and metabolites as HCC develops in this cohort enables the establishment of actionable biomarkers that can prevent and predict the development of HCC.

To determine the economic burden of NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic-Fatty-Liver Disease) patients in Belgium, Flanders by means of a bottom-up approach.

This study aims to determine whether a breath test could be used for early detection of hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Patients who are attending for a planned liver outpatient services or investigations will be approached to provide a breath sample. Multi platform mass spectrometry analysis will be performed to establish volatile biomarkers that can discriminate between fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Liver Transplantation for Unresectable GIST Liver Metastases

Deaths due to advanced liver scarring (liver cirrhosis) continue to increase, and liver disease is now the 3rd leading cause of premature death in the United Kingdom. The majority of liver disease is lifestyle related (alcohol, obesity and associated type 2 diabetes, injecting drug use) and therefore reversible if caught at a precirrhosis stage. However, current liver function blood tests are poor inadequate, and subsequently a large burden of liver disease is currently missed. A variety of noninvasive liver biomarkers (blood and imaging tests) have been developed which identify liver disease accurately at earlier stages of scarring. The identification of liver disease in the community, where previous studies have discovered a large burden of previously unidentified but significant liver disease, is therefore a feasible place to develop new liver disease investigation pathways using these noninvasive markers. In collaboration with the Department of Health, Nottingham University Hospitals have commenced a pilot community liver disease pathway in two General Practices in Nottingham in February 2012. Patients with liver risk factors (hazardous alcohol use, obesity or type 2 diabetes)are invited to take part in the pathway. Patients undergo a simple blood test (AST:ALT ratio and BARD score), with a high test result requiring referral for a liver stiffness scan (Fibroscan)which is performed in the community setting. High threshold scan values are reviewed by a consultant liver specialist in a community liver clinic. Preliminary findings show that the pathway accurately identifies patients with early liver scarring and previously unidentified significant liver disease. The participating General Practitioners have also noted a striking number of patients finally engaging in important lifestyle changes following pathway implementation. A second phase of the pilot pathway, in 2 Inner City General Practices with a total practice population of c.14,000 patients commenced in June 2013. We have subsequently designed this cohort study, where pilot participants will be consented for follow up over a long period. We will assess future liver-related and cardiovascular events (including death), and perform qualitative patient interviews to assess the reasons for and persistence of lifestyle changes after liver disease investigation. We hypothesize that stratification of liver disease in the community will unearth a significant amount of previously undetected but significant chronic liver disease. Moreover, we will evaluate whether stratification of liver disease using these tests predicts future liver and cardiovascular disease and death, and whether stratification has an impact on patient's future lifestyle choices.