AMRA Medical, along with Linköping University, has successfully completed the baseline enrollment for the pioneering ACCESS-ESLD study. This innovative study aims to provide rapid, non-invasive clinical surveillance for various conditions in end-stage liver disease. The study includes 150 liver cirrhosis patients aged 18 and above, recruited from three Swedish liver care clinics. Over the next 2 years, patients will undergo comprehensive clinical examinations and whole-body MRI examinations every 6 months.
The ACCESS-ESLD study, conducted in collaboration with AMRA Medical and Linköping University, aims to characterize body composition using AMRA’s MRI-based platform. This includes assessing muscle volume (MV) and muscle fat infiltration (MFI), along with measures of portal blood flow, liver stiffness, and spleen volume. These measures will help identify risk factors and biomarkers indicating disease severity and predicting future liver-related clinical events in patients with liver cirrhosis. AMRA’s MV and MFI measures have shown independent predictive value for mortality and comorbid vulnerability in patients with fatty liver disease.
The primary goal is to determine if changes in MV and MFI can predict the onset of events related to end-stage liver disease. Additionally, researchers aim to identify predictors of mortality, evaluate non-invasive markers for portal hypertension, and assess the impact of muscle composition and body profile assessments on diagnosis, physical function, and quality of life in liver disease patients. The study’s design and objectives were published in BMC Gastroenterology in late 2023.
Liver cirrhosis presents a significant clinical burden with unmet needs, often addressed reactively after complications arise. ACCESS-ESLD seeks to shift towards a preemptive approach by monitoring disease progression, identifying novel biomarkers, and predicting comorbid diseases/complications in patients.
Mattias Ekstedt from Linköping University highlights the study’s potential to improve liver disease detection and tracking, offering hope for better management. AMRA’s involvement underscores its dedication to advancing liver disease research and clinical care.
