Some cirrhosis deaths have moved out of the hospital

Some cirrhosis deaths have moved out of the hospital

Last Updated: 2017-06-26

By Scott Baltic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although in-hospital mortality for patients with cirrhosis has been on a downward trend, at least part of that decrease appears to have been paid for by an increased risk of death in the 30 days immediately following hospital discharge, according to a U.S. study.

"Our results suggest the improvement in overall outcomes of patients hospitalized with cirrhosis is considerably less than might be suggested by reduction in in-hospital mortality alone," the researchers concluded.

The study, based on 10 years of data from the Veterans Administration healthcare system, is the first to examine temporal trends in the overall outcomes for U.S. cirrhosis patients requiring hospitalization, its authors say.

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