‘Timely’ update
Overall, Dr. Reau believes that the update is “timely, especially in light of the recent [U.S.] approval of terlipressin, which will change our treatment options.”
This update also supports the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2021 Practice Guidance guidelines on HRS, she added.
Zobair Younossi, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Inova Campus, Falls Church, Va., who was not involved in writing the update, told this news organization that the document is important because of the huge increase in mortality among patients with cirrhosis and AKI.
He commented that there has been much advancement in understanding the condition, with updated nomenclature and novel medical treatments, and that this makes the update timely.
Moreover, the update will help clinicians who are involved in the care of patients with cirrhosis, he added.
Dr. Younossi said the update offers a very clearly stated algorithm for how to identify patients whose condition is easily reversible with volume repletion, in comparison with those patients who require medical treatment or even liver transplantation.
“Those things are important because that pathway gives clinicians an idea of how to do this properly,” he said.
“The key for clinicians is to make sure they understand, in the context of cirrhosis, some of the easy things that they can do to prevent AKI,” he continued. He added that the use of NSAIDs in these patients is “going to be problematic.”
Dr. Kamath has a relationship with Sequana Medical. Other authors’ relevant financial relationships are listed in the original article. Dr. Reau has relationships with Salix and Intercept. Dr. Younossi has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
This article was updated 12/12/2022.