View clinical trials related to Liver Cirrhosis.
Filter by:To determine the effect and safety of anticoagulation after endoscopic therapy in cirrhotic patients with portal vein thrombosis and to explore whether it can decrease the short-term rebleeding rate.
Cirrhosis and advanced liver disease have been associated with an increased risk for hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The diagnostic yield of common tests used to define diabetes and insulin resistance in the general population differs significantly from the one observed in patients with liver disease. Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a reliable test to assess chronic glycemia and recommended both for the diagnosis and monitoring of T2DM, is neither accurate nor reliable in patients with cirrhosis. A validation study has not been performed to define its true usefulness in the setting of cirrhosis. The study aims to determine the level of HbA1c that better corresponds to the diagnosis of T2DM - as determined by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) - and to correlate the levels of HbA1c with the average glucose over a 12-week period in patients with cirrhosis and known T2DM, in cirrhotic patients with different degrees of liver impairment as compared to patients with T2DM and no liver disease.
To compare the efficacy and safety of Carvedilol and Propranolol in patients with cirrhosis-related esophagogastric varices after multiple endoscopic treatments for secondary prophylaxis.
Gastro-oesophageal varices (swollen veins in the gullet and stomach) are present in 50% of patients with liver cirrhosis and are its most serious complication as their rupture results in potentially life threatening bleeding. Bleeding from these veins occurs in up to one third of patients with varices. This is associated with 20% mortality at 6 weeks. In the event of bleeding from these veins the current UK guidelines recommend certain drugs followed by early endoscopic treatment with variceal band ligation (rubber bands placed over the veins to stop them bleeding). The use of a shunt inside the liver ("TIPSS" transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt) is largely reserved for cases of uncontrolled bleeding from these swollen veins. A recent randomised multicenter study carried out by Garcia Pagan and colleagues reported improved survival with early TIPSS in patients with bleeding from these swollen veins in advanced liver disease. From these guideline international guidelines now recommend consideration of early TIPSS for all high-risk patients presenting with variceal bleeding. This practice clearly has significant cost implications. To validate the findings a further randomised control trial is needed. This is a multi-center parallel-group randomized controlled trial. Both hospitals taking part in the trial will have a TIPSS service. Patients who consent to enter the trial will be randomized to either: (1) Endoscopic treatment (standard care) or (2) early TIPSS. Potential participants will be all patients with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis presenting with an acute variceal bleed to a participating hospital who do not fulfill an exclusion criteria. All causes of cirrhosis will be included. Participants will be reviewed during their regular hepatology clinic appointments at their respective hospitals on 3 occasions over a one-year period.
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) is a liver disease that predominantly affects females, can present for the first time at any age and which develops over many years. It is caused by the immune system attacking the body's own tissues. People with PBC frequently experience profound fatigue or tiredness which they liken to their "batteries running down" and although people still want to undertake normal activities they often lack the energy to be able to do them. This reduces quality of life, makes it difficult for people to work and can end up with them becoming isolated in the community. At present the investigators have no treatment for fatigue in PBC. Finding a treatment for fatigue in PBC is one of the highest research priorities identified by patient groups. The aim of this study is to undertake a clinical trial to examine the effects of a treatment ("Rituximab") on severe fatigue in PBC to help us understand whether this will be a potentially useful treatment. The information that this will give us about how energy generation changes in patients with PBC with and without the treatment will also help us to develop new treatments for fatigue in other diseases. The study has the potential to improve the quality of life of many patients with PBC, for whom there is currently no hope of improvement. The investigators will perform a randomised controlled study of Rituximab therapy in PBC compared to placebo (1:1 ratio). The study will be performed in a specialised clinical research environment at Clinical Research Facility Royal Victoria Infirmary. The investigators have, for many years, worked closely with PBC patient groups to focus on the problems that are important to our patients. This study is fully supported by Liver North, a liver disease charity and patient support group. The study will take place over one year and will involve between 9 and 20 visits although a number of these will be telephone visits. Blood tests and quality of life questionnaires will be performed at the start of the study and after three, six, nine and twelve months. At baseline and 12 weeks follow up physical activity will be monitored using monitors, and an exercise test and MRI scan will be performed.
Reliable methods of evaluating liver fibrosis using noninvasive techniques in the pediatric population are limited and inconclusive. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard; however, it requires sedation in pediatric patients, has a risk of hemorrhage, and provides unreliable results secondary to sampling error. Sonoelastography is a new method of evaluating liver disease that eliminates these pitfalls. There are 3 types of quantitative sonoelastography currently in use. Transient elastography is a non-imaging based technique used in adults to measure liver fibrosis in which a mechanical vibrator creates a low-frequency wave causing shear stress in the liver at a fixed depth. This technique does not work in small livers and, therefore, is not appropriate for pediatric patients. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging (ARFI) and Shear Wave Imaging (SWE) use real-time ultrasonography and administer focused high-intensity, short-duration pulses to produce shear waves in the liver tissue. ARFI calculates the degree of tissue displacement and creates an elastogram or measurement of the stiffness of the sampled liver tissue without corresponding images. It is limited since only a small sample or region of interest (ROI) can be obtained, and it is unable to provide a corresponding elasticity map of the tissue. SWE is the newest elastography technique. It measures tiny displacements of tissue in a larger ROI with corresponding ultrasound images which provides a side by side image of the liver and color-coded elasticity map of the sampled tissue. Advantages include a larger ROI and simultaneous viewing of the selected region of interest which provides better anatomic detail with a corresponding color map of the tissue elasticity which may result in more accurate scoring of the stage of fibrosis. There are a few studies of ARFI in the pediatric population. Studies using SWE for evaluation of liver fibrosis are also few, and, all but one in adults. However, these studies have shown it to be an accurate method for liver fibrosis staging. Use of SWE in assessing liver fibrosis in pediatric patients may represent an accurate noninvasive alternative to liver biopsy in evaluating liver fibrosis as well as avoid the use of sedation.
The purpose of this study is to learn more about the effects of exercise on functional status and outcomes on patients with end-stage liver disease on the liver transplant waiting list and who have undergone liver transplantation.
Blood products are commonly used before invasive procedures in patients with end-stage liver diseases despite cirrhosis being a thrombophylic state. Traditional coagulation tests (namely INR and PLTs count) are known to be unreliable in predicting bleeding risk before invasive procedures and in representing the real coagulation status of cirrhotic patients. Notwithstanding they are still used to guide blood products administration before invasive procedures. Thromboelastography (TEG) has been shown to be effective in detecting signs of hypo-hypercoagulability possibly being an alternative method to guide blood products transfusion. The aim of this randomized controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy of TEG as a guide for blood products transfusion in cirrhotic patients undergoing invasive procedures.
This study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and influence on itching, bile acids and liver enzyme changes in patients with PBC (Primary Biliary Cirrhosis) treated with A4250
This study aims to estimate the prevalence of bridging liver fibrosis and cirrhosis (METAVIR score ≥ F2) according to METAVIR score in HIV infected patients not chronically infected by viral hepatitis but exhibiting a metabolic syndrome according to the IDF definition (International Diabetes Foundation).