Clinical Characteristics of Recompensation

• Background and Epidemiology Cirrhosis remains a leading cause of morbidity and global mortality, with a disproportionately high burden in the Asia-Pacific region. According to WHO data, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for nearly half of global cirrhosis-related deaths, driven primarily by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). While antiviral therapies (e.g., nucleoside/nucleotide analogues) for HBV and abstinence for ALD have been shown to slow disease progression and improve survival, the clinical trajectory of patients who present with decompensated cirrhosis has traditionally been considered irreversible.
• The Concept of Recompensation

Historically, decompensated cirrhosis was viewed as a terminal stage with a median survival of 2-4 years. However, emerging evidence suggests that effective etiological treatment can lead to "recompensation"-a distinct clinical state characterized by the resolution of decompensation events and functional liver recovery. The Baveno VII consensus provided the first standardized definition of recompensation, requiring:

Removal, suppression, or cure of the primary etiology; Resolution of ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and variceal bleeding for at least 1 year without specific supportive treatments (e.g., diuretics); Sustained improvement in liver function (though specific cut-off values for parameters like albumin and INR remain to be fully defined).

• Current Evidence and Knowledge Gaps Recent studies have begun to validate this concept. Research in HBV-related cirrhosis (e.g., Wang et al., Deng et al.) indicates that 50-80% of treated patients may achieve recompensation, correlating with reduced incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and improved survival comparable to compensated patients. Similarly, limited data in ALD (Benedikt et al.) suggest that recompensation is associated with hemodynamic improvements and reduced mortality.

Despite these advances, significant gaps remain:

Definition Ambiguity: The "stable liver function" criterion in Baveno VII lacks quantitative precision.

Etiological Scope: Most data focus on HBV, with insufficient comparative data for ALD.

Durability: The long-term stability of the recompensated state and the risk factors for "redecompensation" are poorly understood.

• Study Objectives This retrospective cohort study aims to validate established recompensation criteria and propose new standards for defining stable liver function.

Additionally, the study will characterize the natural history of recompensated patients by tracking the duration of recompensation, incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related mortality. Statistical analysis will be performed to identify baseline predictors for achieving recompensation and to determine risk factors for subsequent re-decompensation events.

Identify Predictors: Analyze baseline characteristics to identify independent predictors for achieving recompensation.

Evaluate Risks: Investigate risk factors associated with re-decompensation in patients who have successfully achieved recompensation.

Inclusion criteria

• Age: Patients aged 18 to 75 years.
• Diagnosis of Cirrhosis: Confirmed diagnosis of liver cirrhosis based on clinical, biochemical, hematological, radiological (CT/MRI/Ultrasound), or histological evidence.
• Specific Etiology (Must meet one of the following):

HBV-related: Documented Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity. Alcohol-related: Documented history of significant alcohol intake or recent heavy alcohol consumption (within the past 2 weeks) combined with HBsAg negativity and radiological evidence of hepatic steatosis.

• Intervention/Management: Currently receiving or initiating nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) antiviral therapy (for HBV cohort), or having initiated alcohol abstinence (for Alcohol cohort).
• Index Decompensation: Presenting with esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EVB) as the first and only decompensating event at enrollment.

Exclusion criteria

• Concomitant Liver Disease: Evidence of other coexisting etiologies of chronic liver disease (e.g., Hepatitis C virus infection, autoimmune liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, or parasitic liver disease).
• Prior Decompensation: Current presence or prior history of other decompensation events, specifically moderate-to-severe ascites (grade 2 or 3), hepatic encephalopathy (HE), hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), or hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS).
• Liver Function Status: Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score > 12. Malignancy: Diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or other extrahepatic malignancies.
• Organ Failure: Severe dysfunction or failure of extrahepatic organs (e.g., severe cardiac, respiratory, or renal failure not attributed to liver disease).