Patients with polycystic liver disease (PLD) experience the gradual growth of several (>10) hepatic cysts over the course of their lives. Most people with this disease never have any symptoms at all. However, for some people with PLD, hepatomegaly-related symptoms can severely impair their quality of life. Patients with symptomatic PLD who were not treated had significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores compared to people of similar age and gender who do not have PLD. Only liver transplantation offers a chance at a cure for PLD at this time. Other existing therapies primarily aim to alleviate symptoms and enhance HRQoL by slowing the course of the disease. Researchers distinguished between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and symptom severity to describe the impact of PLD treatment on patient-reported outcome measures in this review. Unfortunately, questionnaires were being used inconsistently, and there was currently no questionnaire assessing HRQoL and PLD symptom intensity. To assess the efficacy of treatment, it is suggested to validate the PLD-specific symptom severity questionnaire in addition to a general HRQoL questionnaire. The therapy and/or research question(s) will dictate which questionnaires are used, though. As such, these forms could be used as a biomarker of therapeutic success, failure, and complications.

 

Source: journals.lww.com/jcge/Fulltext/2022/10000/Treatment_of_Polycystic_Liver_Disease__Impact_on.4.aspx

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