Adding serum sodium to model for end-stage liver disease: identifying those most at risk.

摘要

To accurately predict the prognosis of an individual patient with chronic liver disease remains a holy grail of hepatology. The advent of liver transplantation increased the need for prognostic tools to identify those patients most at risk of death and to assist in appropriate organ allocation strategies. It is no coincidence that renewed interest in quantitative tests of liver function emerged as liver transplantation became established; however, their clinical use was limited and hepatologists remained content using the Child-Pugh score as the best tool to estimate survival.