Patients with recurrent episodes of hepatic encephalopathy experience cognitive improvements and significantly fewer hospitalizations after fecal microbiota transplantation than after standard care, according to a phase 1 study designed to evaluate the safety of this treatment. Fecal microbiota transplantation “is a safe procedure in this population with advanced hepatic encephalopathy,” said Jasmohan Bajaj, MD, from
The rise in the number of deaths caused by hepatitis makes the disease a global health threat on the level of tuberculosis and HIV, according to a World Health Organization report. The data, presented at the International Liver Congress, showed a 22% increase in deaths resulting from chronic hepatitis B and C from 2000 to
Biomarkers of liver injury may persist after hepatitis C treatment
A biomarker of liver damage may persist after hepatitis C treatment: About one-third of patients who were successfully treated to eliminate the hepatitis C virus continued to exhibit liver inflammation, a German study showed. The findings include people who took direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs, the current preferred therapy for the virus. “This is the first
Access to Subspecialty Hepatology Care Increases Survival Among V.A. Patients With Liver Disease
Access to subspecialty GI care may be difficult for patients with liver disease, but it is unknown whether access influences outcomes. A total of 28,861 patients within the Veterans Administration were studied to determine rates and predictors of access to ambulatory GI subspecialty care for patients with liver disease, and to determine whether this
