In patients with cirrhosis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, treatment with intravenous albumin in addition to an antibiotic reduces the incidence of renal impairment and death in comparison with treatment with an antibiotic alone.

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Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a common complication of advanced cirrhosis, characterised by renal failure and major disturbances in circulatory function. Renal failure is caused by intense vasoconstriction of the renal circulation. The syndrome is probably the final consequence of extreme underfilling of the arterial circulation secondary to arterial vasodilatation in the splanchnic vascular bed. As well as the renal circulation, most extrasplanchnic vascular beds are vasoconstricted. The diagnosis of HRS is currently based on the exclusion of other causes of renal failure. The prognosis is very poor, particularly when there is rapidly progressive renal failure (type 1). Liver transplantation is the best option in patients without contraindications to the procedure, but it is not always possible owing to the short survival expectancy. Therapies introduced during the past few years, such as vasoconstrictor drugs (vasopressin analogues, alpha-adrenergic agonists) or the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, are effective in improving renal function. Nevertheless, liver transplantation should still be done in suitable patients even after improvement of renal function because the outcome of HRS is poor. Finally, recent findings suggest that the risk of developing HRS in the setting of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis may be reduced by the administration of albumin together with antibiotic therapy, and that of HRS occurring in severe alcoholic hepatitis can be lowered by administration of pentoxifylline. Although these findings need to be confirmed, these two strategies represent innovative approaches to lower the frequency of HRS in clinical practice.

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Hyponatremia is a frequent complication of advanced cirrhosis related to an impairment in the renal capacity to eliminate solute-free water that causes a retention of water that is disproportionate to the retention of sodium, thus causing a reduction in serum sodium concentration and hypo-osmolality. The main pathogenic factor responsible for hyponatremia is a nonosmotic hypersecretion of arginine vasopressin (or antidiuretic hormone) from the neurohypophysis related to circulatory dysfunction. Hyponatremia in cirrhosis is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. There is evidence suggesting that hyponatremia may affect brain function and predispose to hepatic encephalopathy. Hyponatremia also represents a risk factor for liver transplantation as it is associated with increased frequency of complications and impaired short-term survival after transplantation. The current standard of care based on fluid restriction is unsatisfactory. Currently, a new family of drugs, known as vaptans, which act by antagonizing specifically the effects of arginine vasopressin on the V2 receptors located in the kidney tubules, is being evaluated for their role in the management of hyponatremia. The short-term treatment with vaptans is associated with a marked increase in renal solute-free water excretion and improvement of hyponatremia. Long-term administration of vaptans seems to be effective in maintaining the improvement of serum sodium concentration, but the available information is still limited. Treatment with vaptans represents a novel approach to improving serum sodium concentration in cirrhosis.

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Important progress has been made recently regarding the pathogenesis and treatment of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). However, scant information exists about factors predicting outcome in patients with cirrhosis and HRS. Moreover, the prognostic value of the model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score has not been validated in the setting of HRS. The current study was designed to assess the prognostic factors and outcome of patients with cirrhosis and HRS. The study included 105 consecutive patients with HRS. Forty-one patients had type 1 HRS, while 64 patients had type 2 HRS. Patients with type 1 HRS not only had more severe liver and renal failure than type 2 patients, they also had greater impairment of circulatory function, as indicated by lower arterial pressure and higher activation of vasoconstrictor factors. In the whole series, the median survival was 3.3 months. In a multivariate analysis of survival, only HRS type and MELD score were associated with an independent prognostic value. All patients with type 1 HRS had a high MELD score (>20) and showed an extremely poor outcome (median survival: 1 mo). By contrast, the survival of patients with type 2 HRS was longer and dependent on MELD score (>20, median survival 3 mo; <20, median survival 11 mo; P < .002). In conclusion, the outcome of patients with cirrhosis and HRS can be estimated by using two easily available variables, HRS type and MELD score. These data can be useful in the management of patients with HRS, particularly for patients who are candidates for liver transplantation. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;41:1282-1289

Little information exists on the effects of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) in the management of cirrhotic patients with hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). The current study was aimed to prospectively evaluate the effects of TIPS on renal function and vasoactive systems in patients with type I HRS. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (inulin clearance), renal plasma flow (RPF) (para-aminohippurate clearance), plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone (ALDO), norepinephrine (NE), and endothelin (ET) were determined in baseline conditions and at different time intervals after TIPS in 7 patients with type I HRS. TIPS induced a marked reduction of portal pressure gradient (PPG) (20 ؎ 1 to 10 ؎ 1 mm Hg; P F .05). Renal function improved in 6 of the 7 patients. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) decreased from 5 ؎ 0.8 and 109 ؎ 7 to 1.8 ؎ 0.4 mg/dL and 56 ؎ 11 mg/dL, respectively (P F .05 for both), and GFR and RPF increased from 9 ؎ 4 and 103 ؎ 33 to 27 ؎ 7 mL/min and 233 ؎ 40 mL/min, respectively (P F .05 for both), 30 days after TIPS. These beneficial effects on renal function were associated with a significant (P F .05) reduction of PRA (18 ؎ 5 to 3 ؎ 1 ng/mL · h), ALDO (279 ؎ 58 to 99 ؎ 56 ng/dL), and NE (1,257 ؎ 187 to 612 ؎ 197 pg/mL). ET did not change significantly (28 ؎ 8 to 27 ؎ 11 pg/mL). Mean survival was 4.7 ؎ 2 months (0.3-17 months). Three patients remained alive more than 3 months after TIPS insertion. In conclusion, TIPS improves renal function and reduces the activity of the renin-angiotensin and sympathetic nervous systems in cirrhotic patients with type I HRS. Nevertheless, the efficacy of TIPS in the management of these patients should be confirmed in controlled investigations. (HEPATOLOGY 1998;28:416-422.)Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a common and severe complication of patients with advanced cirrhosis and is characterized by renal failure, marked portal hypertension, abnormalities in the arterial circulation, and overactivity of endogenous vasoactive systems. [1][2][3][4][5] Up to now, the only treatment that has been shown to improve survival in patients with HRS is liver transplantation. 3-7 However, because of the short survival of patients with HRS and the limited availability of organs, only a small percentage of patients with HRS can actually reach transplantation. Therefore, it would be of great value to have a therapeutic method that could improve renal function and increase survival, especially in patients with type I HRS, which is characterized by a rapid progression of renal failure and a very short survival expectancy. 3 The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) has been introduced recently in clinical practice for the management of cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding. 8,9 As with surgical portosystemic shunts, the use of TIPS is associated with a marked reduction in portal pressure but with the advantage of a very low operative morbidity and mortality. It has been shown that TIPS is useful in the management of acute variceal hemorrhage th...