Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy: Current Pharmacologic Treatments and Improving Clinical Outcomes
Recommended Citation
Rahimi RS, Brown KA, Flamm SL, and Brown RS, Jr. Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy: Current Pharmacologic Treatments and Improving Clinical Outcomes. Am J Med 2021.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-6-2021
Publication Title
The American journal of medicine
Abstract
Overt hepatic encephalopathy is a generally reversible neurologic complication of cirrhosis. Overt hepatic encephalopathy has been associated with poor hospitalization- and mortality-related outcomes, important given increasing hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations over time. The aim of this narrative review is to provide an overview of hospital- and mortality-related outcomes in patients with overt hepatic encephalopathy and the pharmacologic therapies that may improve these outcomes. Guideline-recommended prophylaxis with lactulose (first-line therapy) or secondary prophylaxis with rifaximin plus lactulose decreases hospital admissions and mortality rates. Rifaximin or lactulose treatment was beneficial for reducing the hospitalization rate in patients with hepatic encephalopathy compared with no treatment. Further, retrospective studies have shown that rifaximin with or without lactulose was effective for decreasing the number of hepatic encephalopathy episodes, hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations, and duration of hospitalization. Ornithine phenylacetate, an ammonia-reducing agent currently in development, is also being investigated in hospitalized patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Overall, data support that prophylaxis for the prevention of hepatic encephalopathy recurrence improves outcomes in patients with cirrhosis and a history of hepatic encephalopathy.
PubMed ID
34242619
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
