Outpatient mean arterial pressure: A potentially modifiable risk for acute kidney injury and death among patients with cirrhosis.

Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), which decreases as portal hypertension progresses, may be a modifiable risk factor among patients with cirrhosis. We included adults enrolled in the Functional Assessment in Liver Transplantation study. We completed latent class trajectory analyses to define MAP trajectories.

Variation in skeletal muscle mass among patients with cirrhosis of different self-identified race/ethnicity.

Skeletal muscle index (SMI) remains a strong predictor of mortality in cirrhosis patients. However, the extent to which SMI varies by race/ethnicity has not been fully evaluated. Among 317 patients, 55% identified themselves as non-Hispanic White (NHW), 26% Hispanic White (HW), 13% Asian, and 6% Black.

The tele-liver frailty index (TeLeFI): development of a novel frailty tool in patients with cirrhosis via telemedicine.

Frailty is a critical determinant of outcomes in cirrhosis patients. The increasing use of telemedicine has created an unmet need for virtual frailty assessment. We aimed to develop a telemedicine-enabled frailty tool (tele-liver frailty index).

Serum and plasma protein biomarkers associated with frailty in patients with cirrhosis.

Frailty, a clinical phenotype of decreased physiological reserve, is a strong determinant of adverse health outcomes in patients with cirrhosis. The only cirrhosis-specific frailty metric is the Liver Frailty Index (LFI), which must be administered in person and may not be feasible for every clinical scenario. We sought to discover candidate serum/plasma protein biomarkers that could differentiate frail from robust patients with cirrhosis.

Loneliness in adults awaiting liver transplantation at 7 U.S. transplant centers.

Introduction: Loneliness, "a subjective feeling of being isolated", is a strong predictor of adverse health. We characterized loneliness in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) awaiting liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: We surveyed loneliness in ambulatory ESLD adults awaiting LT at 7 U.

Discordance in categorization of acute-on-chronic liver failure in the United Network for Organ Sharing database.

Background & Aims: Studies regarding acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) among liver transplant (LT) candidates from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database are being used to inform LT policy changes worldwide. We assessed the validity of identifying ACLF in UNOS.

Methods: We performed stratified random sampling among 3 US LT centers between 2013-2019 to obtain a representative patient sample across ACLF grades.

Frailty, mortality, and health care utilization after liver transplantation: From the Multicenter Functional Assessment in Liver Transplantation (FrAILT) Study.

Background And Aims: Frailty is a well-established risk factor for poor outcomes in patients with cirrhosis awaiting liver transplantation (LT), but whether it predicts outcomes among those who have undergone LT is unknown.

Approach And Results: Adult LT recipients from 8 US centers (2012-2019) were included. Pre-LT frailty was assessed in the ambulatory setting using the Liver Frailty Index (LFI).

Evaluating the Associations Between the Liver Frailty Index and Karnofsky Performance Status With Waitlist Mortality.

Unlabelled: Frailty has emerged as a critical determinant of mortality in patients with cirrhosis. Currently, the United Network for Organ Sharing registry only includes the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scale, which captures a single component of frailty. We determined the associations between frailty, as measured by the Liver Frailty Index (LFI), and KPS with waitlist mortality.