Cirrhosis medical therapy
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Govindavarjhulla, M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
Overview
The change that cirrhosis causes to the liver is irreversible, therefore treatment is mostly centered on the ameliorating the complications of cirrhosis.
Medical Therapy
Treatment of cirrhosis is directed most of the times towards treatment of complications like ascites, esophageal varices, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. But some chronic constitutional symptoms, which include pruritus, hypogonadism, osteoporosis and anorexia should be treated as well.
Alcohol should be avoided by all patients with cirrhosis. Improvement in liver function is noticed in patients with alcohol induced cirrhosis after abstinence from alcohol.
Pruritus
Pruritus is a common symptom in chronic liver disease. Endogenous opioids have been proposed as the culprits for causing pruritus. Mild itching can be treated using antihistamines and ammonium lactate topical solution. Cholestyramine is the drug of choice for treating pruritus of chronic liver disease. Severe itching requires ultraviolet light therapy and/or plasmapheresis.
Other drugs that can be used include: diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine, ursodeoxycholic acid, rifampin and naltrexone (opiate).
Hypogonadism
Males with cirrhosis sometimes complain of loss of libido due to hypogonadism. The possible treatment option for these patients is topical testosterone preparations, but no studies exist to prove the efficacy of such preparations.
Osteoporosis
Cirrhosisis one of the major causes of osteoporosis[1]. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation is suggested for all the patients who are at risk for osteoporosis and also for patients who are on corticosteroids for autoimmune liver disease.
Pain management in Cirrhosis
Cirrhotic patients can develop pain from ascites (back pain and abdominal pain) and gynecomastia (mastalgia). Pain management in cirrhosis has a special consideration as many analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs are metabolized by the liver and dosage regulations are required to prevent further liver damage and drug toxicity. Drug dosages should be titrated as per the level of hepatic function in the patient. Dosage changes are required in patients with cirrhosis when they have the following:
- Portal hypertension
- Renal failure
- Alcoholic patient on multiple medications.
Non-selective NSAIDs should be avoided in patients with cirrhosis because of the following complications:
- Increased bleeding from varices
- Impaired renal function
- Development of diuretic resistant ascites
As per a study in humans which involved 28 patients with cirrhosis and ascites celecoxib seemed to be a reasonable option for pain management and anti-inflammatory treatment. But further studies are needed to prove the potential advantage of celecoxib over other NSAIDs.
Opioids should be used cautiously in patients with cirrhosis because they are metabolized by the liver through oxidation and glucuronidation and in cirrhosis, because of the reduced liver blood flow, reduced protein binding and reduced hepatic enzyme capacity, these drugs accumulate and the patient is prone to develop opiate toxicity.
Nutrition
Anorexia is a common symptom in cirrhosis patients who have ascites because of the direct compression of the bowel by the ascitic fluid. Adequate calories and proteins should be added to the diet of the patient. Patients should consume a balanced diet and one multivitamin daily. Vitamin D and K supplementation is needed in patients with cholestasis.
Excessive proteins in the diet places the patient at risk for hepatic encephalopathy. Low protein diet causes muscle wasting. Therefore diet should be adequately titrated. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) can function as pharmacologic nutrients for patients with decompensated cirrhosis.
Zinc
Zinc deficiency is commonly observed in patients with cirrhosis. Supplementation with 220 mg Zinc twice a day orally may improve dysgeusia and also helps in stimulating appetite. Zinc supplementation can also help resolve muscle cramps. Low dose Zn supplementation could prevent deterioration of clinical status of cirrhosis and prevent excess Cu accumulation in non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients. Zn supplementation produces metabolic effects and trends towards improvements in liver function, hepatic encephalopathy, and nutritional status[2].
Treatment of Underlying Causes
Alcoholic Liver Disease
- Mild to moderate alcoholic hepatitis:
- Abstinence from alcohol.
- Aggressive enteral nutrition therapy.
- Severe Alcoholic hepatitis:
- Four week course of prednisolone (40 mg/day for 28 days), typically followed by discontinuation or a 2-week taper (if no contraindications for steroid use).
- Pentoxifylline therapy (400 mg orally 3 times daily for 4 weeks) is an alternative in severe disease, especially if there are contraindications to steroid therapy
Hepatitis C
- Abstinence from alcohol as alcohol aggravates HCV associated fibrosis, cirrhosis and makes liver cancer more likely.
Genotypes HCV 1 and 4
- Treatment with peginterferon plus ribavirin for 48 weeks. The dose for peginterferon alfa-2a is 180 µg subcutaneously per week together with ribavirin using doses of 1,000 mg for those <75 kg in weight and 1,200 mg for those >75 kg; the dose for peginterferon alfa-2b is 1.5 µg/kg subcutaneously per week together with ribavirin using doses of 800 mg for those weighing <65 kg; 1,000 mg for those weighing >65 kg to 85 kg, 1,200 mg for >85 kg to 105 kg, and 1,400 mg for >105 kg.
Genotypes HCV 2 and 3
- Treatment with peginterferon plus ribavirin should be administered for 24 weeks, using a ribavirin dose of 800 mg.
For "nonresponders" - people who do not respond to previous treatments addition of 100mg of amantadine twice a day has been suggested by a few studies and this is sometimes referred to as "triple therapy".
Hepatitis B
1. Patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B
- a. ALT greater than 2 times normal or moderate/severe hepatitis on biopsy, and HBV DNA >20,000 IU/mL - treatment may be initiated with any of the 7 approved antiviral medications, but pegIFN-α, tenofovir or entecavir are preferred.
- b. ALT persistently normal or minimally elevated (<2 times normal) - should not be initiated on treatment.
- c. Children with elevated ALT greater than 2 times normal - treatment may be initiated with IFN-α or lamivudine if ALT levels remain elevated at this level for longer than 6 months.
2. Patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (serum HBV DNA >20,000 IU/mL and elevated ALT >2 times normal) should be considered for treatment with pegIFN-α, tenofovir or entecavir.
3. Patients with compensated cirrhosis - best treated with tenofovir or entecavir.
4. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis — Lamivudine or telbivudine may be used as initial treatment in combination with adefovir or tenofovir to reduce the risk of drug resistance.
Treatment of Complications
Ascites
- Abstinence from alcohol.
- Salt restriction to less than 2000 mg per day.
- Fluid restriction unless the serum sodium is less than 120 - 125 mmol/L.
- Diuretics are the first line drugs for the treatment of ascites.
- Therapeutic paracentesis in tense ascites. Serial therapeutic paracentesis is a treatment option for refractory ascites.
Esophageal Variceal Bleeding
- Patients with no varices and bleeding:
- EGD should be performed at regular intervals.
- Patients with small varices that have not bled:
- Non-selective beta blockers should be used to prevent the first variceal bleeding
- Those not receiving beta blockers, should be followed up with EGD every 2 years
- If the liver decompensates, EGD should be performed at that time and then annually
- Those who recieve beta blockers may not require a regular follow up with EGD
- Patients with medium/large varices that have not bled:
- Esophageal variceal ligation or non-selective beta blockers may be used to prevent first variceal bleeding, as these patients are at a higher risk for bleeding with beta blockers being the first choice of treatment and esophageal variceal ligation reserved for those who are unable to tolerate the drugs
- Nitrates, sclerotherapy and shunts alone are not used as primary prophylaxis to prevent bleeding
- Patients with cirrhosis and an acute episode of variceal hemorrhage:
- Fluid replacement
- Blood transfusions to keep hemoglobin above 8gms/dl
Hepatic Encephalopathy
High-protein food increases the nitrogen balance, and would theoretically increase encephalopathy; in the past, this was therefore eliminated as much as possible from the diet. Recent studies show that this assumption was incorrect, and high-protein foods are even encouraged to maintain adequate nutrition.
Hepatorenal Syndrome
The hepatorenal syndrome is defined as a urine sodium less than 10 mmol/L and a serum creatinine > 1.5 mg/dl (or 24 hourcreatinine clearance less than 40 ml/min) after a trial of volume expansion without diuretics.[3]
Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis
Cirrhotic patients with ascites are at risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.
References
- ↑ Giouleme OI, Vyzantiadis TA, Nikolaidis NL; et al. (2006). "Pathogenesis of osteoporosis in liver cirrhosis". Hepatogastroenterology. 53 (72): 938–43. PMID 17153457.
- ↑ Somi MH, Rezaeifar P, Ostad Rahimi A, Moshrefi B (2012). "Effects of Low Dose Zinc Supplementation on Biochemical Markers in Non-alcoholic Cirrhosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial". Arch Iran Med. 15 (8): 472–6. doi:012158/AIM.006 Check
|doi=value (help). PMID 22827782. Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ↑ Ginés P, Arroyo V, Quintero E; et al. (1987). "Comparison of paracentesis and diuretics in the treatment of cirrhotics with tense ascites. Results of a randomized study". Gastroenterology. 93 (2): 234–41. PMID 3297907.