A new strategy for the management of ascites in liver cirrhosis:A long-term albumin treatment / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Ascites is the most frequent decompensating event of cirrhosis.At present,ascites recurs at a high rate due to lack of effective management strategy and is frequently complicated with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis,hepatorenal syndrome,and liver failure,which increase the fatality rate.Albumin treatment for hepatocirrhosic ascites has a long history,but it is limited as an acute or short-term treatment.In contrast,long-term albumin administration represents a completely different treatment paradigm.Results from several recent clinical studies indicate that long-term albumin treatment can be able to modify the disease courses of some decompensated cirrhosis when albumin is given at a sufficient dose for a sufficient time.In this review,we analyze the available data acquired from long-term albumin treatments,trying to establish a secure and effective management scheme involving maximal target popula-tion,albumin dose,administration time,and standards for albumin withdrawal,and thus provide references for the clinical practice.