Background and goals: The aims of the present study were to investigate the natural history of cirrhosis and to determine trends in the etiology of cirrhosis.
Methods: Between January 2001 and January 2018, a total of 1341 patients had been diagnosed with cirrhosis were included.
Results: A total of 898 cirrhotic patients, who were followed for at least six months were included into the analysis. The median age was 54 years. The median Child-Pugh and MELD scores were 7.5 and 11, respectively. Ascites (51%) was the most common causes of decompensation. Chronic viral hepatitis was the most frequent cause of cirrhosis (58%). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was the main etiology (34%), followed by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (18%). Among 129 patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis (CC), 60 had metabolic abnormalities. If these 60 patients with CC were considered to have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-related cirrhosis, the proportion of NAFLD-related cirrhosis increased from 1.8% to 8.0%.
At admission, 74 patients (8%) had been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A new HCC developed in 80 patients during the follow-up period. The probability of developing HCC was 3.9% at 12 months. Logistic regression analysis showed that the development of HCC was significantly associated with older age (p<0.001), male gender (p<0.001), viral etiology (p=0.026) and baseline high aspartate aminotransferase level (p=0.01). Overall, 104 cirrhotic patients died.
In conclusion: HBV and HCV remain the leading causes of etiology in cirrhosis and HCC. However, NAFLD-related cirrhosis is recognized is recognized as a growing burden.
Background and Aims:
Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is an accurate, continuous biomarker of liver fibrosis; however, the optimal combination with clinical factors to predict the risk of incident hepatic decompensation is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to develop and validate an MRE-based prediction model for hepatic decompensation for patients with NAFLD.
Approach and Results:
This international multicenter cohort study included participants with NAFLD undergoing MRE from 6 hospitals. A total of 1254 participants were randomly assigned as training (n = 627) and validation (n = 627) cohorts. The primary end point was hepatic decompensation, defined as the first occurrence of variceal hemorrhage, ascites, or HE. Covariates associated with hepatic decompensation on Cox-regression were combined with MRE to construct a risk prediction model in the training cohort and then tested in the validation cohort. The median (IQR) age and MRE values were 61 (18) years and 3.5 (2.5) kPa in the training cohort and 60 (20) years and 3.4 (2.5) kPa in the validation cohort, respectively. The MRE-based multivariable model that included age, MRE, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, and platelets had excellent discrimination for the 3- and 5-year risk of hepatic decompensation (c-statistic 0.912 and 0.891, respectively) in the training cohort. The diagnostic accuracy remained consistent in the validation cohort with a c-statistic of 0.871 and 0.876 for hepatic decompensation at 3 and 5 years, respectively, and was superior to Fibrosis-4 in both cohorts (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
An MRE-based prediction model allows for accurate prediction of hepatic decompensation and assists in the risk stratification of patients with NAFLD.
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