Skip to main content
Log in

Potential Effectiveness of Tolvaptan to Improve Ascites Unresponsive to Standard Diuretics and Overall Survival in Patients with Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis

  • Original Research Article
  • Published:
Clinical Drug Investigation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and Objective

After tolvaptan was approved for the treatment of cirrhosis patients with ascites, only a few studies have reported its efficacy in the real clinical setting, and no studies have reported its contribution to overall survival. This study clarified the clinical outcomes of tolvaptan treatment in terms of improving ascites unresponsive to standard diuretics (AUS) and overall survival.

Methods

We retrospectively enrolled 80 decompensated cirrhosis patients with AUS who were administered tolvaptan from October 2012 to December 2014. The patients were divided into two groups according to ascites improvement. We compared laboratory results and overall survival and analyzed factors that affected overall survival.

Results

Of the 80 patients, 59 (73.8 %) were male and the median age was 70 years. Thirty-nine (48.8 %) patients were Child–Pugh class C, and 36 (45.0 %) had advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tolvaptan was effective in 48 (60.0 %) patients with an average 3.8 kg weight reduction and ineffective in 32 (40.0 %) patients. The cumulative survival rate differed significantly between the two groups (p < 0.0001), with 87.5 and 68.0 % survival at 30 and 90 days, respectively, in the effective group, and 50.0 and 30.5 % survival, respectively, in the ineffective group. Multivariate analysis showed that improvement in AUS, advanced HCC, total bilirubin level, blood urea nitrogen level, and the presence of hyponatremia were independent predictors of overall survival.

Conclusions

Tolvaptan could possibly improve overall survival in decompensated cirrhosis patients with AUS as long as it was demonstrated to be effective in these patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. D’Amico G, Garcia-Tsao G, Pagliaro L. Natural history and prognostic indicators of survival in cirrhosis: a systematic review of 118 studies. J Hepatol. 2006;44(1):217–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gines P, Schrier RW. Renal failure in cirrhosis. N Engl J Med. 2009;361(13):1279–90.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sola E, Watson H, Graupera I, Turon F, Barreto R, Rodriguez E, et al. Factors related to quality of life in patients with cirrhosis and ascites: relevance of serum sodium concentration and leg edema. J Hepatol. 2012;57(6):1199–206.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Arroyo V, Colmenero J. Ascites and hepatorenal syndrome in cirrhosis: pathophysiological basis of therapy and current management. J Hepatol. 2003;38(Suppl 1):S69–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Planas R, Montoliu S, Balleste B, Rivera M, Miquel M, Masnou H, et al. Natural history of patients hospitalized for management of cirrhotic ascites. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006;4(11):1385–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Runyon BA, Committee APG. Management of adult patients with ascites due to cirrhosis: an update. Hepatology. 2009;49(6):2087–107.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wong F. Management of ascites in cirrhosis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012;27(1):11–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Decaux G, Soupart A, Vassart G. Non-peptide arginine-vasopressin antagonists: the vaptans. Lancet. 2008;371(9624):1624–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Zmily HD, Daifallah S, Ghali JK. Tolvaptan, hyponatremia, and heart failure. Int J Nephrol Renovasc Dis. 2011;4:57–71.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Sakaida I, Kawazoe S, Kajimura K, Saito T, Okuse C, Takaguchi K, et al. Tolvaptan for improvement of hepatic edema: a phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Hepatol Res. 2014;44(1):73–82.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Kogiso T, Tokushige K, Hashimoto E, Ikarashi Y, Kodama K, Taniai M, et al. Safety and efficacy of long-term tolvaptan therapy for decompensated liver cirrhosis. Hepatol Res. 2016;46(3):E194–200.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Sakaida I, Nakajima K, Okita K, Hori M, Izumi T, Sakurai M, et al. Can serum albumin level affect the pharmacological action of tolvaptan in patients with liver cirrhosis? A post hoc analysis of previous clinical trials in Japan. J Gastroenterol. 2015;50(10):1047–53.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Ohki T, Sato K, Yamada T, Yamagami M, Ito D, Kawanishi K, et al. Efficacy of tolvaptan in patients with refractory ascites in a clinical setting. World J Hepatol. 2015;7(12):1685–93.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Llovet JM, Bru C, Bruix J. Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: the BCLC staging classification. Semin Liver Dis. 1999;19(3):329–38.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Yamamura Y, Nakamura S, Itoh S, Hirano T, Onogawa T, Yamashita T, et al. OPC-41061, a highly potent human vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist: pharmacological profile and aquaretic effect by single and multiple oral dosing in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1998;287(3):860–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Wu CC, Yeung LK, Tsai WS, Tseng CF, Chu P, Huang TY, Lin YF, Lu KC. Incidence and factors predictive of acute renal failure in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. Clin Nephrol. 2006;65(1):28–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sakaida I, Yamashita S, Kobayashi T, Komatsu M, Sakai T, Komorizono Y, et al. Efficacy and safety of a 14-day administration of tolvaptan in the treatment of patients with ascites in hepatic oedema. J Int Med Res. 2013;41(3):835–47.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author contributions

All authors contributed to this paper.

Biostatistics

Tomoharu Yamada performed the statistical analysis, and Takamasa Ohki performed the statistical review.

Data Sharing

The technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset are available from the corresponding author at the following e-mail address: anb72547@nifty.com. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takamasa Ohki.

Ethics declarations

Funding

No sources of funding were used to conduct this study.

Conflicts of interest

Tomoharu Yamada, Takamasa Ohki, Yuki Hayata, Yuki Karasawa, Satoshi Kawamura, Daisaku Ito, Kentaro Kojima, Michiharu Seki, Nobuo Toda, Kazumi Tagawa have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

Mitsui Memorial Hospital Clinical Research Committee approved this retrospective trial.

Informed consent

As this was a retrospective study, formal consent was not required.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yamada, T., Ohki, T., Hayata, Y. et al. Potential Effectiveness of Tolvaptan to Improve Ascites Unresponsive to Standard Diuretics and Overall Survival in Patients with Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis. Clin Drug Investig 36, 829–835 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-016-0434-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-016-0434-7

Keywords

Navigation