What Is the Treatment for Chronic Liver Failure Due to Alcohol or Viral Hepatitis?
A key principle in managing chronic liver failure is removal of the aetiological factor causing liver injury. Whether the underlying driver is alcohol consumption or infection with hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus, targeting that cause is central to the treatment approach.
Treatment Approach
Management focuses on eliminating the root cause of liver injury — through addressing alcohol consumption or through antiviral approaches directed at the relevant hepatitis virus — though the complete structured protocol and the full range of clinical decisions extend well beyond this summary.
References
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2018.03.024
- In patients with decompensated cirrhosis, the aetiological factor, should be removed, particularly alcohol consumption and hepatitis B or C virus infection as this strategy is associated with decreased risk of decompensation and increased survival (II-2,1).
- Likewise, in patients with cirrhosis due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, treatment with antiviral agents is associated with improved outcome in some, but not all patients.
- Moreover, treatment of patients with decompensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus infection with direct antiviral agents is associated with beneficial effects in liver function and portal hypertension and likely improves outcome, but these effects are unfortunately not generalisable to all patients treated.
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