Alcohol-Related Cirrhosis Tied to Lower Survival Post-ICU

Survival following ICU stay worse for patients with alcohol-associated versus other types of cirrhosis independent of alcohol abstinence

TUESDAY, Feb. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Critically ill patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis (ALC) have lower survival after intensive care unit (ICU) discharge versus patients with other etiologies of cirrhosis, according to a study published online Jan. 25 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Chansong Choi, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues used data from 1,174 consecutive patients with cirrhosis admitted to the ICU between 2006 and 2015 to evaluate the short-term outcomes of patients with ALC compared to other etiologies of liver disease. The researchers also assessed whether quick sequential organ failure accurately predicts presence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with various etiologies of cirrhosis.

The researchers observed no significant difference in ICU mortality rates in ALC versus non-ALC cohorts (10.2 versus 11.7 percent), although patients with ALC had significantly higher rates of post-ICU in-hospital death (10.0 versus 6.5 percent). Patients with ALC also had higher mortality at 30 days post-ICU discharge (18.7 versus 11.2 percent). There was no survival advantage noted for sustained alcohol abstinence over nonabstinence. There was limited predictive power for quick sequential organ failure assessment for sepsis on in-hospital mortality for patients with cirrhosis.

“We need better bedside tools to predict infection and sepsis in these patient groups so we can implement the appropriate therapeutic measures,” Choi said in a statement.