In 1998, during the Second World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) held in Evian, France, a clinical classification of PH was proposed. The aim of the Evian classification was to individualize different categories sharing similarities in pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical presentation, and therapeutic options. The Evian classification is now well accepted and widely used in clinical practice, especially in specialized centers. In addition, this classification has been used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Agency for Drug Evaluation for the labeling of newly approved medications in PH. In 2003, during the Third World Symposium on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension held in Venice, Italy, it was decided to maintain the general architecture and philosophy of the Evian classification. However, some modifications have been proposed, mainly to abandon the term "primary pulmonary hypertension" and to replace it with "idiopathic pulmonary hypertension"; to reclassify pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis; to update risk factors and associated conditions for pulmonary arterial hypertension and to propose guidelines in order to improve the classification of congenital systemic-to-pulmonary shunts.

Beta-blockers may have a negative impact on survival in patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the administration of betablockers on long-term survival in patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites. We performed a single-center, observational, case-only, prospective study of patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites who did or did not receive beta-blockers for the prevention of gastrointestinal bleeding; 151 patients were included. The mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score was 18.8 6 4.1. All patients regularly underwent large-volume paracentesis and intravenous albumin administration. Seventy-seven patients (51%) were treated with propranolol (113 6 46 mg/day). The median follow-up for the whole group was 8 months. The median survival time was 10 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 5 8-12 months]. The probability of survival at 1 year was 41% (95% CI 5 33%-49%). The clinical characteristics and laboratory values at enrolment were not significantly different between patients who were receiving propranolol and those who were not. The median survival time was 20.0 months (95% CI 5 4.8-35.2 months) in patients not treated with propranolol and 5.0 months (95% CI 5 3.5-6.5 months) in those treated with propranolol (P 5 0.0001). The 1-year probability of survival was significantly lower in patients who received propranolol [19% (95% CI 5 9%-29%)] versus those who did not [64% (95% CI 5 52%-76%), P < 0.0001]. The independent variables of mortality were Child-Pugh class C, hyponatremia and renal failure as causes of refractory ascites, and beta-blocker therapy. Conclusion: The use of beta-blockers is associated with poor survival in patients with refractory ascites. These results suggest that betablockers should be contraindicated in these patients.

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Sepsis is physiologically viewed as a proinflammatory and procoagulant response to invading pathogens. There are three recognized stages in the inflammatory response with progressively increased risk of end-organ failure and death: sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock. Patients with cirrhosis are prone to develop sepsis, sepsis-induced organ failure, and death. There is evidence that in cirrhosis, sepsis is accompanied by a markedly imbalanced cytokine response ("cytokine storm"), which converts responses that are normally beneficial for fighting infections into excessive, damaging inflammation. Molecular mechanisms for this excessive proinflammatory response are poorly understood. In patients with cirrhosis and severe sepsis, high production of proinflammatory cytokines seems to play a role in the worsening of liver function and the development of organ/system failures such as shock, renal failure, acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome, coagulopathy, or hepatic encephalopathy. In addition, these patients may have sepsis-induced hyperglycemia, defective arginine-vasopressin secretion, adrenal insufficiency, or compartmental syndrome. In patients with cirrhosis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), early use of antibiotics and intravenous albumin administration decreases the risk for developing renal failure and improves survival. There are no randomized studies that have been specifically performed in patients with cirrhosis and severe sepsis to evaluate treatments that have been shown to improve outcome in patients without cirrhosis who have severe sepsis or septic shock. These treatments include recombinant human activated C protein and protectiveventilation strategy for respiratory failure. Other treatments should be evaluated in the cirrhotic population with severe sepsis including the early use of antibiotics in "non-SBP" infections, vasopressor therapy, hydrocortisone, renal-replacement therapy and liver support systems, and selective decontamination of the digestive tract or oropharynx.

Autophagy, or cellular self-digestion, is a cellular pathway crucial for development, differentiation, survival, and homeostasis. Its implication in human diseases has been highlighted during the last decade. Recent data show that autophagy is involved in major fields of hepatology. In liver ischemia reperfusion injury, autophagy mainly has a prosurvival activity allowing the cell for coping with nutrient starvation and anoxia. During hepatitis B or C infection, autophagy is also increased but subverted by viruses for their own benefit. In hepatocellular carcinoma, the autophagy level is decreased. In this context, autophagy has an anti-tumor role and therapeutic strategies increasing autophagy, as rapamycin, have a beneficial effect in patients. Moreover, in hepatocellular carcinoma, Beclin-1 level, an autophagy protein, has a prognostic significance. In α-1-antitrypsin deficiency, the aggregation-prone ATZ protein accumulates in the endoplasmic reticulum. This activates the autophagic response which aims at degrading mutant ATZ. Some FDA-approved drugs which enhance autophagy and the disposal of aggregation-prone proteins may be useful in α-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Following alcohol consumption, autophagy is decreased in liver cells, likely due to a decrease in intracellular 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPk) and due to an alteration in vesicle transport in hepatocytes. This decrease in autophagy contributes to the formation of Mallory-Denk bodies and to liver cell death. Hepatic autophagy is defective in the liver in obesity and its upregulation improves insulin sensitivity.

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aaThis review focuses on the pulmonary vascular complications of chronic liver failure and portal hypertension. The wide spectrum of pulmonary vascular disorders in liver disease and portal hypertension ranges from the hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), which is characterized by intrapulmonary vascular dilatations, to pulmonary hypertension (portopulmonary hypertension), in which pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is elevated. The exact pathophysiological mechanisms of these pulmonary vascular disorders are unknown. However, since HPS and portopulmonary hypertension have been reported in patients with nonhepatic portal hypertension, the factor that determines their development must be portal hypertension.A brief review of the haemodynamic changes observed in cirrhosis with portal hypertension is summarized, and the clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that the liver exerts a critical influence on the regulation of pulmonary vascular tone and angiogenesis is described. Portopulmonary hypertension is then discussed, focusing in turn on its clinical presentations, management and potential mechanisms, and referring to our findings in 39 patients with portopulmonary hypertension and 140 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) admitted between 1986 and 1996 at Antoine Béclère Hospital. Finally, HPS will be examined, with a discussion of the mechanisms of hypoxaemia and intrapulmonary vascular dilatation, as well as its clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment, with special attention to liver transplantation. Haemodynamics in cirrhosis with portal hypertensionAn understanding of pulmonary haemodynamics in liver disease with portal hypertension is important to a study of the pulmonary vascular disorders seen in this setting. A hyperdynamic circulatory state with high cardiac output, low systemic vascular resistance and low PVR is present in 30-50% of patients with cirrhosis and also in animal models of portal hypertension [1][2][3][4]. Compared with healthy subjects ( fig. 1) The wide spectrum of pulmonary vascular disorders in liver disease and portal hypertension ranges from the hepatopulmonary syndrome characterized by intrapulmonary vascular dilatations, to pulmonary hypertension (portopulmonary hypertension), in which pulmonary vascular resistance is elevated. Since hepatopulmonary syndrome and portopulmonary hypertension have been reported in patients with nonhepatic portal hypertension, the common factor that determines their development must be portal hypertension. The clinical presentations are very different, with gas exchange impairment in the hepatopulmonary syndrome and haemodynamic failure in portopulmonary hypertension. The severity of hepatopulmonary syndrome seems to parallel the severity of liver failure, whereas no simple relationship has been identified between hepatic impairment and the severity of portopulmonary hypertension. Resolution of hepatopulmonary syndrome is common after liver transplantation, which has an uncertain effect in portopulmonary hypertension. The pathoph...