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Abstract Details
The Current Management of Hepatorenal Syndrome-Acute Kidney Injury in the United States and the Potential of Terlipressin
Steven L Flamm12, Kimberly Brown34, Hani M Wadei5, Robert S Brown Jr6, Marcelo Kugelmas7, Milagros Samaniego-Picota8, Patrizia Burra9, Fred Poordad1011, Sammy Saab12
Author information
1Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
2Liver Transplantation, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
3Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
4Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Associate Medical Director Transplant Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
5Department of Transplantation, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
6Department of Medicine Clinical Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
7Hepatology and Research, South Denver Gastroenterology, PC, Englewood, CO, USA.
8Department of Transplant Nephrology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
9Gastroenterology, Head of the Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology, and Gastroenterology, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy.
10University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
11Academic and Scientific Affairs, Texas Liver Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
12Department of Internal Medicine and Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Abstract
Acute kidney injury in the setting of cirrhosis (hepatorenal syndrome-acute kidney injury [HRS-AKI]) is a severe and often fatal complication of end-stage liver disease. The goals of treatment are to reverse renal failure and prolong survival in critically ill patients. However, interventions have limited efficacy, and mortality rates remain high. In the US, the mainstay of pharmacologic therapy consists of the off-label use of vasoconstrictive agents in combination with plasma expanders, a strategy that produces modest effects. Liver transplantation is the ultimate solution but is only an option in a minority of patients since contraindications to transplantation are common and organ availability is limited. Renal replacement therapy is a temporary option but is known to confer an extremely poor, short-term prognosis in patients with HRS-AKI and, at best, serves as a bridge to liver transplantation for the minority of patients who are transplantation candidates. The high mortality rate associated with HRS-AKI in the US is a reflection of the suboptimal standard of care. Improved therapeutic options to treat HRS-AKI are sought. Terlipressin is a drug approved in Europe for treatment of HRS-AKI and supported by recommendations for first-line therapy by some liver societies and experts around the world. This review article will discuss the substantial unmet medical need associated with HRS-AKI and the potential benefits if terlipressin was approved in the US.