A randomized control trial led by Florence Wong demonstrated improved renal function in individuals with Type 1 HRS treated with terlipressin and albumin over placebo. A key criticism of all of these medical therapies has been heterogeneity in the populations investigated and the use of kidney function, instead of mortality, as an outcome measure.Other agents that have been investigated for use in treatment of HRS include pentoxifylline, acetylcysteine, and misoprostol. The evidence for all of these therapies is based on either case series, or in the case of pentoxifylline, extrapolated from a subset of patients treated for alcoholic hepatitis. Procedural treatments
A transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) involves the decompression of the high pressures in the portal circulation by placing a small stent between a portal and hepatic vein. This is done through radiologically guided catheters which are passed into the hepatic vein either through the internal jugular vein or the femoral vein. Theoretically, a decrease in portal pressures is thought to reverse the hemodynamic phenomena that ultimately lead to the development of hepatorenal syndrome. TIPS has been shown to improve kidney function in patients with hepatorenal syndrome. Complications of TIPS for treatment of HRS include the worsening of hepatic encephalopathy (as the procedure involves the forced creation of a porto-systemic shunt, effectively bypassing the ability of the liver to clear toxins), inability to achieve adequate reduction in portal pressure, and bleeding.Liver dialysis involves extracorporeal dialysis to remove toxins from the circulation, usually through the addition of a second dialysis circuit that contains an albumin-bound membrane.
While HRS may develop in any type of cirrhosis, it is most common in individuals with alcoholic cirrhosis, particularly if there is concomitant alcoholic hepatitis identifiable on liver biopsies. HRS can also occur in individuals without cirrhosis, but with acute onset of liver failure, termed fulminant liver failure.Certain precipitants of HRS have been identified in vulnerable individuals with cirrhosis or fulminant liver failure. These include bacterial infection, acute alcoholic hepatitis, or bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, which is the infection of ascites fluid, is the most common precipitant of HRS in cirrhotic individuals. HRS can sometimes be triggered by treatments for complications of liver disease: iatrogenic precipitants of HRS include the aggressive use of diuretic medications or the removal of large volumes of ascitic fluid by paracentesis from the abdominal cavity without compensating for fluid losses by intravenous replacement. Diagnosis
There can be many causes of kidney failure in individuals with cirrhosis or fulminant liver failure. Consequently, it is a challenge to distinguish hepatorenal syndrome from other entities that cause kidney failure in the setting of advanced liver disease.