Treatments of portal hypertension in the era of liver transplantation / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Gastroesophageal varices hemorrhage is a common complication of portal hypertension. Drug and endoscopic therapy have become the basic treatments for varices. Transjugular intrahepatic portal venous shunt is recommended for the management of refractory or recurrent variceal hemorrhage. Liver transplantation will be considered when variceal hemorrhage becomes fatal and traditional therapies are with high risk, contraindicated, or have unsatisfactory results. Patients who received traditional treatments can achieve short-term efficacy and even stabilize the disease for a long time. However, if these treatments lead to complications such as portal vein thrombosis and hepatorenal syndrome, it may increase the risk of liver transplantation complications and affect the patient’s prognosis. Elevated portal venous pressure has a variety of adverse effects on systemic circulation, which can cause hepatopulmonary syndrome, portal pulmonary hypertension, refractory ascites, etc. In these cases, liver transplantation should be performed as early as possible. Conventional treatments are unsatisfactory. In addition, frailty may be worsened after traditional treatment, which will significantly increase the risk of liver transplantation. With the increase of model for end-stage liver disease, the requirement for donor liver volume will also has been increased, which will also affect the implementation of living donor liver transplantation. Some patients with portal hypertension may have poor quality of life and it may also become a clinical indication for liver transplantation. These liver transplant-related issues should be evaluated when administering traditional therapies. Traditional therapies aimed at improving the patient's condition, delaying or controlling complications should not interfere with the consequent implementation of liver transplantation. Improving the long-term overall survival rate and quality of life of patients with portal hypertension is the ultimate standard of all treatments.