Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39620604›Full record

ArticleClinical and translational gastroenterology2025

Survival Benefit From Corticosteroids in Severe Alcohol-associated Hepatitis Attributed to Clinical and Treatment Differences in a Large Multicenter Cohort.

Claire Durkin, Douglas E Schaubel, David E Kaplan, Nadim Mahmud, Therese Bittermann

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical and translational gastroenterology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Claire DurkinDepartment of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9532-0765
Douglas E SchaubelDepartment of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
David E KaplanDepartment of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Nadim MahmudDepartment of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Therese BittermannDepartment of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Funding

CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY TRAINING IN GASTROENTEROLOGYT32DK007740 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI James D Lewis · 1997 to 2026
$9.2M
Survival Analysis Methods for Organ Failure DataR01DK070869 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI DOUGLAS EARL SCHAUBEL · 2005 to 2026
$4.7M
2/4-American Consortium of Early Liver Transplantation-Prospective Alcohol-associated liver disease Cohort Evaluation (ACCELERATE-PACE)R01AA030963 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Marina Serper · 2023 to 2026
$1.6M
Improving Surgical Risk Prediction and Decision Making among Patients with CirrhosisK08DK124577 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI MAHMUD, NADIM · 2021 to 2025
$835k
NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA030963NIAAA NIH HHS R01-AA030963NIDDK NIH HHS K08 DK124577NIDDK NIH HHS R01-DKDK070869NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK007740NIDDK NIH HHS T32-DK007740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCorticosteroids are recommended by multiple society guidelines for the treatment of severe alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH). However, their use remains controversial due to inconsistent studies regarding their survival benefit.

methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of first-time hospitalizations for severe AH (Maddrey discriminant function ≥ 32) admitted to the Veterans Health Administration between January 3, 2005, and December 5, 2020, (i) evaluating the effect of corticosteroid therapy on all-cause survival, (ii) characterizing the clinical and psychosocial factors associated with corticosteroid use, and (iii) determining the effect of duration of corticosteroid therapy on all-cause survival among treatment-responsive patients (Lille score < 0.45).

resultsDuring the study period, 2,618 patients were admitted with severe AH, of whom 1,083 (41.37%) received corticosteroids. Although corticosteroids were significantly associated with improved all-cause survival in the unadjusted model ( P = 0.022), no survival benefit was observed in the adjusted model after accounting for baseline and admission characteristics (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.01, P = 0.818). Psychiatry consultation was the only factor evaluated that was protective against mortality (aHR = 0.67, P < 0.001). Among the 428 patients (49.7%) responsive to corticosteroids, duration of therapy was not associated with overall survival on unadjusted ( P = 0.696) or adjusted models (aHR = 1.12, P = 0.710 for a ≥28-day course compared with a ≤7-day reference). DISCUSSION: Despite being recommended by clinical guidelines for severe AH, corticosteroids have low utilization with no survival benefit after accounting for differences in patient characteristics and practice patterns. Among patients with treatment response per the Lille score, no difference was observed in overall survival between shorter and longer durations of corticosteroid therapy.

Indexed as

Adrenal Cortex HormonesHepatitis, AlcoholicAgedFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedPractice Guidelines as TopicRetrospective StudiesSeverity of Illness IndexTreatment OutcomeUnited StatesUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsAdrenal Cortex Hormones

Identifiers

PMID39620604
PMCPMC11756888

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.