Page 9 - Time to DeLiver: Getting a Grip on HE report 2015
P. 9
SECTION 1
What is Hepatic Encephalopathy?
Advanced Chronic The most common causes of advanced
Liver Disease chronic liver disease are alcohol-related
liver disease and chronic infection with
• Hepatic encephalopathy is a significant the hepatitis C or hepatitis B virus.7,8 Non-
alcoholic related fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/
complication of advanced chronic liver non-alcohol related steatohepatitis (NASH)
disease1 and occurs in up to 40% of is becoming a more common cause as it is
patients2 or as many as 200,000 people associated with obesity.9 Other conditions that
in Europe. can lead to advanced chronic liver disease
include primary biliary cholangitis (PBC),
• Advanced chronic liver disease (cirrhosis) primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and
drug-induced liver injury.5
results from long-term injury to the liver.3,4
Patients with advanced chronic liver disease
• It has been suggested that 0.1%, or may not develop any noticeable symptoms
until the damage to the liver is very advanced.
500,000, EU citizens may be living with This is referred to as compensated advanced
advanced chronic liver disease.5 chronic liver disease and can be managed
with careful monitoring. Despite this, the only
• According to the UK General Practice ‘cure’ for advanced chronic liver disease
is transplantation, however each year in
Research Database (GPRD), the Europe only 6,000 transplants are performed
prevalence of advanced chronic liver (Figure 1, page 8).5,10 Given the substantial
disease in the UK almost doubled and increasing population with advanced
between 1992 and 2001 to 76.3 per chronic liver disease, the number of patients
100,000 persons.6 waiting for a liver transplant continues to
increase, and the gap between those requiring
Advanced transplantation and the number of livers
chronic liver available is growing.10
disease results
in an estimated Patients with advanced chronic liver disease
170,000 deaths are also at risk of acute liver failure or liver
per year in cancer, both of which have low survival rates.3,4
Europe5
7
