Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jul:75 Suppl 1:S36-S48.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2020.12.005.

Transition to decompensation and acute-on-chronic liver failure: Role of predisposing factors and precipitating events

Thierry Gustot  1 , Vanessa Stadlbauer  2 , Wim Laleman  3 , Carlo Alessandria  4 , Mark Thursz  5
Affiliations
Review

Transition to decompensation and acute-on-chronic liver failure: Role of predisposing factors and precipitating events

Thierry Gustot et al. J Hepatol. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

The transition from compensated to decompensated cirrhosis results from a complex interplay of predisposing and precipitating factors and represents an inflection point in the probability of a patient surviving. With the progression of cirrhosis, patients accumulate multiple disorders (e.g. altered liver architecture, portal hypertension, local and systemic inflammation, bacterial translocation, gut dysbiosis, kidney vasoconstriction) that predispose them to decompensation. On the background of these factors, precipitating events (e.g. bacterial infection, alcoholic hepatitis, variceal haemorrhage, drug-induced liver injury, flare of liver disease) lead to acute decompensation (ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding, jaundice) and/or organ failures, which characterise acute-on-chronic liver failure. In this review paper, we will discuss the current hypotheses and latest evidences regarding predisposing and precipitating factors associated with the transition to decompensated liver disease.

Keywords: Decompensated cirrhosis; Dysbiosis; Inflammation; Portal hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest TG gives advice to Promethera Biosciences, Martin Pharmaceuticals, Goliver therapeutics, and Abbvie and has received grants from Gilead. VS has received speaker’s honoraria/travel expenses from Astellas, Institut Allergosan, Fresenius, MSD, Gilead and research support: Institut Allergosan, Fresenius, Winclove Probiotics. MT received a grant from Novartis. CA and WL have nothing to disclose. Please refer to the accompanying ICMJE disclosure forms for further details.