- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Carvedilol tied to improved survival in cirrhosis patients: Study
UK: Carvedilol improves survival in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension, suggests a recent study in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
The standard of care in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension is primary prophylaxis of variceal haemorrhage with non‐selective beta blockers (NSBB) or variceal band ligation (VBL). NSBB, carvedilol in particular, may offer survival benefit. Considering this, Hannah R. McDowell, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, and colleagues aimed to assess mortality in a cohort of patients previously randomized to either carvedilol or VBL.
For the purpose, the researchers retrospectively analysed 152 patients (77 received carvedilol and 75 received VBL) recruited to a multi‐centre randomised controlled trial between 7 April 2000 and 24 June 2006. The trial was designed to assess the efficacy of VBL versus carvedilol in preventing first variceal bleed. Electronic records were used to undertake long‐term follow‐up (up to 20 years).
The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality and secondary end points were liver‐related mortality and decompensation events (ascites, encephalopathy, variceal bleeding).
Key findings of the study include:
- In the intention‐to‐treat analysis, carvedilol offered a significant survival advantage with median survival of 7.8 years compared to 4.2 years in the VBL group.
- This survival benefit was maintained in per‐protocol analysis when patients who crossed between treatment arms were excluded.
- Transplant‐free survival, liver‐related mortality and decompensation events were similar in both groups.
"Our findings suggest that carvedilol offers a significant survival benefit for patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension," wrote the authors.
"The difference in all‐cause and liver‐related mortality suggests that this survival benefit may not be entirely liver‐related. Prospective, studies are required to confirm these important findings," they concluded.
"Carvedilol is associated with improved survival in patients with cirrhosis: a long‐term follow‐up study," is published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/apt.16189
MSc. Biotechnology
Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751