Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple organ systems and affecting approximately 2% of the world's population. In this guideline, we focus the discussion on systemic, nonbiologic medications for the treatment of this disease. We provide detailed discussion of efficacy and safety for the most commonly used medications, including methotrexate, cyclosporine, and acitretin, and provide recommendations to assist prescribers in initiating and managing patients on these treatments. Additionally, we discuss newer therapies, including tofacitinib and apremilast, and briefly touch on a number of other medications, including fumaric acid esters (used outside the United States) and therapies that are no longer widely used for the treatment of psoriasis (ie, hydroxyurea, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, thioguanine, and tacrolimus).
Background & Aims: Frailty is associated with mortality in patients with cirrhosis. We measured frailty using 3 simple tests and calculated liver frailty index (LFI) scores for patients at multiple ambulatory centers. We investigated associations between LFI scores, ascites, and hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and mortality. Methods: Adults without hepatocellular carcinoma who were on the liver transplant waitlist at 9 centers in the United States (n=1044) were evaluated using the LFI; LFI scores of 4.5 or more indicated that patients were frail. We performed logistic regression analyses to assess associations between frailty and ascites or HE and competing risk regression analyses (with liver transplantation as the competing risk) to estimate subhazard ratios (sHR) of waitlist mortality (death or removal from the waitlist). Results: Of study subjects, 36% had ascites, 41% had HE, and 25% were frail. The odds of frailty were higher for patients with ascites (adjusted odd ratio, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.15-2.14) or HE (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.80-3.33) than without these features. Higher proportions of frail patients with ascites (29%) or HE (30%) died while on the waitlist compared to patients who were not frail (17% of patients with ascites and 20% with HE). In univariable analysis, ascites (sHR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.14-2.05), HE (sHR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.38-2.45), and frailty (sHR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.77-3.20) were associated with waitlist mortality. In adjusted models, only frailty remained significantly associated with waitlist mortality (sHR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.31-2.52)-ascites and HE were not. Conclusions: Frailty is a prevalent complication of cirrhosis that is observed more frequently in patients with ascites or HE and independently associated with waitlist mortality. LFI scores can be Lai et al.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.