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INTRODUCTION: One of the primary goals of the Liver Cirrhosis Network (LCN) is to develop a cohort study to better understand and predict the risk of hepatic decompensation and other clinical and patient-reported outcomes among patients with Child A cirrhosis. METHODS: The LCN consists of a Scientific Data Coordinating Center and 10 clinical centers whose investigators populate multiple committees. The LCN Definitions and Measurements Committee developed preliminary definitions of cirrhosis and its complications by literature review, expert opinion, and reviewing definition documents developed by other organizations. The Cohort Committee developed the study protocol with the input of the steering committee. RESULTS: The LCN developed a prospective cohort study to describe and predict the rates of incident clinical events pertaining to first decompensation and patient-reported outcomes. The LCN developed a pragmatic definition of compensated cirrhosis incorporating clinical, laboratory, imaging, and histological criteria. Definitions of incident and recompensated ascites, overt hepatic encephalopathy, variceal hemorrhage, bleeding because of portal gastropathy, and hepatocellular carcinoma were also codified. DISCUSSION: The LCN Cohort Study design will inform the natural history of cirrhosis in contemporary patients with compensated cirrhosis. The LCN Definitions and Measures Committee developed criteria for the definition of cirrhosis to standardize entry into this multicenter cohort study and standardized criteria for liver-related outcome measures. This effort has produced definitions intended to be both sensitive and specific as well as easily operationalized by study staff such that outcomes critical to the LCN cohort are identified and reported in an accurate and generalizable fashion. REGISTRATION: NCT05740358.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess frequency of evidence-based management (EBM) of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), and to examine for racial/ethnic disparities in the receipt of EBM. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of patients with T2D and presumptive MASLD in an academic health care system between 2019 and 2021. Presumptive MASLD was defined as at least 1 alanine aminotransferase value ≥30 U/L with exclusions for alcohol overuse, viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, chemotherapy use, and liver disease other than MASLD. We calculated the proportion of patients receiving EBM, defined as a composite of liver ultrasound, transient elastography, or hepatology evaluation. We also examined the association between race/ethnicity and EBM via a logistic regression model. RESULTS: Our sample included 6532 patients; mean age was 58.0 (SD 13.1), 41.7% were female and 3.9%, 26.6%, 58.7%, and 5.8% were of Latino/a/x ethnicity, non-Latino (NL) Black race, NL White race, and NL Asian race, respectively. Rates of EBM were low overall (11.5%), with lower odds of EBM in NL Black versus NL White patients (adjusted odds ratio 0.75; 95% confidence interval 0.59, 0.96). Odds of hepatology evaluation and placement of MASLD diagnosis codes were also lower in NL Black versus NL White patients. CONCLUSION: Racial disparities exist in the receipt of EBM among patients with T2D and presumptive MASLD. These findings highlight the need for research to identify drivers of disparities, and to support development of clinical interventions that equitably facilitate EBM of MASLD in patients with T2D.