THURSDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have fewer complications and a lower risk of death compared with patients with cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV), although cardiovascular mortality is higher in NASH cirrhosis patients, according to a study in the April issue of Hepatology.
Arun J. Sanyal, M.D., and colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, examined outcomes in 152 patients with cirrhosis due to NASH and 150 matched patients with cirrhosis due to HCV over 10 years.
The researchers found that sepsis was the most common cause of death in both groups, but mortality rates were significantly lower in patients with NASH, which was largely due to a lower mortality rate in patients with Child class A cirrhosis. Significantly fewer patients with cirrhosis due to NASH developed ascites or hepatocellular carcinoma, but cardiac mortality was significantly higher, according to the study. The risk of decompensation was significantly lower in patients with Child class A cirrhosis due to NASH.
"In conclusion, compensated cirrhosis due to NASH is associated with a lower mortality rate compared with that due to HCV," Sanyal and colleagues write. "It is also associated with a lower rate of development of ascites, hyperbilirubinemia and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, cardiovascular mortality is greater in patients with NASH."
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