Physician-researchers from Baylor Scott & White Health played a prominent role at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) The Liver Meeting 2023, held Nov. 10-14 in Boston. They presented the latest insights from one of the largest multispecialty transplant centers in the nation: Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute in Dallas.
Until recently, there was no FDA-approved treatment in the United States for hepatorenal syndrome, a major complication of advanced liver disease. Patients with hepatorenal syndrome develop acute kidney failure, and often require dialysis. After more than a decade of research, in September 2022 the FDA granted approval to terlipressin, a medication that can reverse kidney failure in these patients, quickly establishing terlipressin as the routinely prescribed medication.
For patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, getting a preemptive kidney transplant may lead to a longer and healthier life. A preemptive kidney transplant is when a patient receives a new kidney before he or she needs to go on dialysis.
Patients who are admitted to the hospital with cirrhosis have significant morbidity and mortality when they present with complications of end-stage liver disease. Complications such as hepatic encephalopathy and gastrointestinal bleeding lead to increased length of stay, readmission, intensive care utilization and inpatient mortality.
Michael Duncan, MD, is chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, part of Baylor Scott & White Health. His expertise includes lung transplantation, pulmonary hypertension and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Dr. Duncan also has experience in cardiovascular critical care.
