Assessing of Physicians' Knowledge About International Guidelines of Albumin Use in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis

Overview

Due to shortage of local studies of the adherence of physicians to the guidelines for albumin use among patients with liver cirrhosis so this study aims to assess: 1. Physicians' knowledge on the evidence-based indications for HA use supported by the international guidelines; 2. Whether HA is used in clinical conditions not supported by solid scientific evidence; 3. To formulate the evidence-based indications for HA use supported by the international guidelines and to evaluate effect of distributing these evidence-based indications on physicians' knowledge.

* In the last part of the previous century the increasing knowledge about the cardiovascular abnormalities that occur in advanced cirrhosis led researchers to design prospective randomized clinical trials assessing the effect of exogenous human albumin (HA) based on its well-established capacity to act as plasma-expander. * Due to the positive results reported by those studies, international guidelines have included the administration of HA among the recommendations for the prevention of post-paracentesis circulatory dysfunction (PPCD) or renal failure induced by spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), and for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) . * Indeed, all these complications are characterized by a substantial reduction of effective volemia. However, even in these settings, questions regarding HA dosage and whether or not all patients should be treated remain unanswered . * It has now become evident that circulatory dysfunction and organ damage in patients with decompensated cirrhosis are related to a chronic state of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, which can abruptly exacerbate in patients developing acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), a syndrome characterized by extra-hepatic organ failure and poor short-term survival. * Besides colloid-osmotic power, HA is provided with many biological properties unrelated to the regulation of fluid compartmentalization. Among these, some would assume particular importance in relation to the inflammatory state of decompensated cirrhosis, such as antioxidant and scavenging activities, binding and transport of many endogenous and exogenous substances, and regulation of endothelial function and inflammatory/immunological response . * Therefore, due to both its oncotic and non-oncotic properties, HA may exert beneficial effects at different steps of the cascade of the pathogenetic events that link circulatory dysfunction to systemic inflammation, providing a novel pathophysiological perspective for the use of HA. In this regard, two nationwide surveys on the use of HA in patients with cirrhosis conducted in the United States and France aiming to assess the adherence to the current AASLD and EASL guidelines respectively, have shown that HA is also prescribed besides the evidence-based indications. Indeed, HA is not rarely employed in non-SBP bacterial infections, severe hyponatremia, and hypoalbuminemia.