Hepatorenal syndrome: Current concepts related to diagnosis and management

• Published in: Annals of hepatology Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 474 - 481
• Main Authors: de Mattos, Ângelo Zambam, de Mattos, Angelo Alves, Méndez-Sánchez, Nahum
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mexico Elsevier España, S.L.U 01.07.2016; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acute kidney injury; Acute Kidney Injury - etiology; Acute Kidney Injury - therapy; Albumin; Albumins - therapeutic use; Ascites - etiology; Ascites - therapy; Cirrhosis; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Hepatorenal Syndrome - etiology; Hepatorenal Syndrome - therapy; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis - complications; Liver Transplantation; Lypressin - analogs & derivatives; Lypressin - therapeutic use; Noradrenaline; Norepinephrine - therapeutic use; Terlipressin; Vasoconstrictor Agents - therapeutic use; Albumin; Cirrhosis; Terlipressin; Noradrenaline; Acute kidney injury
• ISSN: 1665-2681
• DOI: 10.5604/16652681.1202886

Renal failure in cirrhotic patients is a very severe condition. Hepatorenal syndrome has the worst prognosis among all causes of kidney failure in such patients. Hepatorenal syndrome is diagnosed especially in cirrhotic patients with ascites who develop loss renal function, despite diuretic suspension and volume expansion with albumin and for whom other causes of kidney injury have been excluded. Patients with hepatorenal syndrome should be treated with a vasoconstrictor in combination with albumin as a bridge to receiving a liver transplant. The vasoconstrictor of choice is terlipressin or noradrenaline. In spite of higher drug-related costs associated to terlipressin, initial evidence demonstrates that, considering all direct medical costs involved, the treatment strategy using terlipressin is probably more economical than that using noradrenaline.