Albumin for End-Stage Liver Disease

Albumin has been widely used in patients with cirrhosis in an attempt to improve circulatory and renal functions. The benefits of albumin infusions in preventing the deterioration in renal function associated with large-volume paracentesis, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and established hepatorenal syndrome in conjunction with a vasoconstrictor are well established. While some of these indications are supported by the results of randomized studies, others are based only on clinical experience and have not been proved in prospective studies. The paucity of well-designed trials, the high cost of albumin, the lack of a clear-cut survival benefit, and fear of transmitting unknown infections make the use of albumin controversial. The recent development of the molecular adsorbent recirculating system, an albumin dialysis, is an example of the capacity of albumin to act by mechanisms other than its oncotic effect. Efforts should be made to define the indications for albumin use, the dose required, and predictors of response, so that patients gain the maximum benefit from its administration

Reporting bias in medical research - a narrative review

Reporting bias represents a major problem in the assessment of health care interventions. Several prominent cases have been described in the literature, for example, in the reporting of trials of antidepressants, Class I anti-arrhythmic drugs, and selective COX-2 inhibitors. The aim of this narrative review is to gain an overview of reporting bias in the medical literature, focussing on publication bias and selective outcome reporting. We explore whether these types of bias have been shown in areas beyond the well-known cases noted above, in order to gain an impression of how widespread the problem is. For this purpose, we screened relevant articles on reporting bias that had previously been obtained by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care in the context of its health technology assessment reports and other research work, together with the reference lists of these articles