Cardiovascular complications — including increased left atrial dimension and heart rate and reduced mean arterial pressure — may predict an increased risk for mortality among patients with cirrhosis, according to a recently published study.

“We performed a prospective study assessing the cardiac dimensions, systolic and diastolic function, and hemodynamic parameters in a large cohort of patients with different stages of cirrhosis using a noninvasive state-of-the-art echocardiography technique, with the aim of investigating the predictive values of these parameters in the clinical course of these patients,” Maurizio Cesari, MD, PhD, from the University of Padova, Italy, and colleagues wrote.