Austrian Consensus on the Definition and Treatment of Portal Hypertension and its Complications

Introduction/Background

In November 2004, the Austrian Society of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (ÖGGH) held for the first time a consensus meeting on the definitions and treatment of portal hypertension and its complications in the Billroth-Haus in Vienna, Austria. This meeting was preceeded by an international experts meeting on portal hypertension with some of the proponents of the Baveno consensus conferences (www.oeggh.at/videos.asp). The consensus itself is based on the Baveno III consensus with regard to portal hypertensive bleeding [1] and the suggestions of the International Ascites Club regarding the treatment of ascites [2]. Those statements were modified by new knowledge derived from the recent literature and also by the current practice of medicine as agreed upon by the participants of the consensus meeting. The section on TIPS-placement was based on the consensus statement of the Vienna TIPS Study Group (VTSG) [3]

An effort was made to develop a practical guideline to everyday medical practice. In order to reduce the areas without specific recommendations for treatment to an absolute minimum, we tried to make suggestions for therapy even in case of insufficient or contradictory data through consensus of the participating physicians. The only area where we were not able to reach a consensus statement out of a variety of reasons was the treatment of the hepatorenal syndrome. This complication of portal hypertension was therefore not included into the consensus statement.

References

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