BACKGROUND & AIMS According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. However, this single descriptor might not adequately enumerate all deaths from liver disease. The aim of our study was to update data on liver mortality in the United States. METHODS Mortality data were obtained from the Rochester Epidemiology Project (1999–2008) and the National Death Registry (1979–2008). Liver-specific mortality values were calculated. In contrast to the narrow NCHS definition, updated liver-related causes of death included other specific liver diagnoses (eg, hepatorenal syndrome), viral hepatitis, and hepatobiliary cancers. RESULTS The Rochester Epidemiology Project database contained information on 261 liver-related deaths, with an age- and sex-adjusted death rate of 27.0/100,000 persons (95% confidence interval: 23.7–30.3). Of these, only 71 deaths (27.2%) would have been captured by the NCHS definition. Of cases for which viral hepatitis or hepatobiliary cancer was the cause of death, 96.9% and 94.3% had liver-related immediate causes of death, respectively. In analysis of data from the National Death registry (2008), use of the updated definition increased livermortality by>2-fold (from 11.7 to 25.7 deaths/100,000, respectively). Using NCHS definitions, liver-related deaths decreased from 18.9/100,000 in 1979 to 11.7/100,000 in 2008—a reduction of 38%. However, using the updated estimate, liver-related deaths were essentially unchanged from 1979 (25.8/100,000) to 2008 (25.7/100,000). Mortality burden was systematically under-estimated among non-whites and persons of Hispanic ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS Based on analyses of theRochester Epidemiology Project and National Death databases, liver-related mortality has been under-estimated during the past 2 decades in the United States.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Liver stiffness measurement (LSM), using elastography, can independently predict outcomes of patients with chronic liver diseases (CLDs). However, there is much variation in reporting and consistency of findings. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between LSM and outcomes of patients with CLDs. METHODS We performed a systematic review of the literature, through February 2013, for studies that followed up patients with CLDs prospectively for at least 6 months and reported the association between baseline LSM and subsequent development of decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as mortality. Summary relative risk (RR) estimates per unit of LSM and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the random effects model. RESULTS Our final analysis included 17 studies, reporting on 7058 patients with CLDs. Baseline LSM was associated significantly with risk of hepatic decompensation (6 studies; RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.11), HCC (9 studies; RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.05–1.18), death (5 studies; RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05–1.43), or a composite of these outcomes (7 studies; RR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.16–1.51). We observed considerable heterogeneity among studies—primarily in the magnitude of effect, rather than the direction of effect. This heterogeneity could not be explained by variations in study locations, etiologies and stages of CLD, techniques to measure liver stiffness, adjustment for covariates, or method of imputing relationship in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS Based on a meta-analysis of cohort studies, the degree of liver stiffness is associated with risk of decompensated cirrhosis, HCC, and death in patients with CLDs. LSM therefore might be used in risk stratification.

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