View clinical trials related to Portal Hypertension.
Filter by:Cystic fibrosis can affect organs other than the lungs. Liver disease affects about 30% of patients: its main manifestation is the development of portal hypertension (PHT). The pathophysiology of this comorbidity is still poorly understood. It was previously considered secondary to the formation of biliary cirrhosis but another hypothesis would be that of a primitive pathology of venous vessels may cause the gradual emergence of portal hypertension without cirrhosis. Evidence indiscutly suggest that cystic fibrosis is associated with a specific endothelial dysfunction, especially as the CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator) protein is expressed on the surface of endothelial cells. The investigators hypothesize that liver disease related to PHT−associated cystic fibrosis is associated with systemic endothelial dysfunction. The aim is: To demonstrate a systemic endothelial dysfunction in patients with cystic fibrosis when associated with PHT. To study the correlations between measures of systemic endothelial function and serum markers of endothelial dysfunction and between measures of liver stiffness and systemic endothelial function.
Portal hypertension is a common complication of liver cirrhosis that can lead to development of esophageal varices (EV). They are abnormally dilated veins within the wall of the esophagus that lead to haemorrhage (1). Majority of patients with cirrhosis will develop EV at some point, and about third of these patients will have at least one bleeding episode because of rupture of a varix . For this reason, screening endoscopy for detection of the presence of EV should be part of the diagnostic work-up in patients with cirrhosis. This is a very important preventive step for identification of those patients with variceal bleeding risk and furthermore, identification of patients in urgent need for prophylactic treatment. All guidelines stress on screening endoscopy for early detection of EV in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension. However this approach is limited by its invasiveness and cost effectiveness issues of screening endoscopy .
The purpose of this study is to assess whether the add of Rifaximin in patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices treated with a standard therapy with beta blockers, leads to a significant reduction of portal hypertension.
In the last years, important advances have been done in the treatment and prevention of fundal variceal bleeding in patients with cirrhosis. Experts agree that the combination of pharmacological and endoscopic therapy (with tissue adhesives) should be the first line therapy in the acute bleeding episode from isolated gastric varices (IGV1) or type 2 gastroesophageal varices (GOV2) varices; whereas transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is considered a rescue therapy. TIPS has been shown to effectively prevent variceal rebleeding but with a potential increase in the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy and/or liver failure. In this sense, a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) in esophageal variceal bleeding showed that an early TIPS, performed during the first 72h after patient admission resulted in a significant decrease in failure to control bleeding and early and late rebleeding. Moreover, survival was also significantly increased as well as other portal-hypertension related complications (ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, etc). The present study is directed at comparing the outcome of patients with acute bleeding from fundal varices (IGV1 or GOV2) treated by standard therapy (vasoactive drugs + endoscopic injection of tissue adhesives) with or without early TIPS (performed during the first 1-5 days after admission). Main end-point will be survival free of variceal rebleeding at 1 year from inclusion.
Many patients with portal hypertension require surgical treatment each year,and Hassab's operation, or esophagogastric devascularization and splenectomy, is an elective procedure. In recent years,laparoscopic esophagogastric devascularization and splenectomy has been used to treat portal hypertension. However, the potential benefits remain to be demonstrated in the context of a randomized trial. In this study, 120 patients will randomize equally receiving laparoscopic or open esophagogastric devascularization and splenectomy. Inclusion criteria included: platelet count < 50×109/ml, esophageal and gastric varices revealed, agreeing the informed consent. PerioperativeOutcomes are: technical success, blood loose and infusion during the operation, recurrent varicose veins on gastroscopy examination, patterns of reflux on duplex ultrasound examination, complications, platelet and liver function variation, length of hospital stay. Follow-up will last 5 years, and gastroscopy and ultrasonic will perform at 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years. Further more, this study was proved by the ethical committee of second hospital of Xi'an jiaotong university.
To reduce portal pressure, the only recommended medication is nonselective beta blocker(NSBB). However, NSBB has some limitation to apply clinically because of poor response rate and compliance. Recent literature has supported the role of bacterial translocation as a mediator of splanchnic vasodilatation and portal hypertension. This stimulates the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the activation of the vasodilator NO resulting in a more pronounced deterioration of the baseline hyperdynamic circulatory state. Selective gut decontamination with Rifaximin can induce inhibition of bacterial translocation and associated worsening of portal hypertension. The investigators hypothesized that Rifaximin plus NSBB could result in decrease of portal pressure in cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices.
Death from chronic liver disease has doubled in the UK over the last decade. This is largely due to the rise in liver disease from excess alcohol consumption, obesity related fatty liver disease and hepatitis B & C infections. The current 'liver tests' only identify liver injury when the damage is at an advanced stage. They neither estimate the degree of injury accurately nor help judge prognosis. The complications from chronic liver disease result mainly from raised pressures within the liver. We currently measure this pressure by passing a long catheter through the jugular vein in the neck into the liver. This invasive test does carry a small yet significant risk of complications and is not available outside specialised liver centres. Raised pressure within the liver is also associated with changes in the microorganisms within the gut. This leads to increased infective complications among patients with liver cirrhosis. We aim to noninvasively measure the pressures within the liver using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We will recruit 49 patients with chronic liver disease who have had liver pressure measurements as part of their routine clinical assessment. The participants will attend the Biomedical Research Unit and the MR Centre for a single 2hour visit. We will also collect blood, urine and stool samples from them. The diagnostic accuracy of the quantitative MRI techniques will be validated against the pressures obtained via the invasive test. The quantitative MRI techniques will also correlated with biomarkers of liver injury obtained from blood and urine samples. The stool sample obtained will be used to characterise the gut microorganisms in these patients.
In recent years, the safety and efficacy of autologous bone marrow stem cells infusion (ABMSCi) therapy were confirmed. The investigators attempted to infuse autologous bone marrow stem cells (ABMSC) through inserting a catheter into right gastric artery as far as proper hepatic artery after finishing open abdominal portal hypertension surgery. The present study was designed to treat bleeding from esophageal varices and hypersplenism and hopefully to improve the liver function as well.
In patients with liver cirrhosis elevated levels of von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF-Ag) are found frequently but the clinical significance is unclear. vWF-Ag plays an important role in primary haemostasis and development of thrombotic vascular obliteration is discussed as a possible mechanism leading to portal hypertension. Invasive measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is the current gold standard for the diagnosis of portal hypertension. The investigators hypothesize that vWF-Ag levels in plasma may correlate with portal pressure and predict clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH, HVPG >=10mmHg) and its complications.
Aim To compare Carvedilol with variceal band ligation in the prevention of first variceal bleed. End points of trial Primary: Variceal hemorrhage Secondary: Death Study design Randomised controlled clinical trial. Results analysed for the above end points on an intention-to-treat basis.