Table 5. Characteristics of studies.
| First Author (year) | Country | Study Design | Enrollment Period | Number of Patients | Dosage of Albumin Infused | Outcomes | Main Findings |
| Treatment study | |||||||
| Jalan (2004) | UK | Cohort | NA | 15 | Albumin group: to administer 4.5% albumin intravenously until the central venous pressure was sustained at 7–10mmHg. Control group: none. | Improvement of HE during 3 days. | Severity of HE was significantly improved in the albumin group at both 24 and 72h (P<0.01), which was not observed in the control group (P=0.21). |
| Simon-Talero (2013) | Spain | RCT | 2009- 2012 | 56 | Albumin group: day 1: albumin 1.5g/kg; day 3: albumin 1.0g/kg. Control group: none. | Presence of HE at day 4. | No difference in the proportion of patients without HE at day 4 between albumin and control groups (65.2% vs 57.1%, P=0.6). |
| Sharma (2017) | India | RCT | 2015- 2016 | 120 | Albumin group: albumin 1.5g/kg/day. Control group: none. | Recovery of HE during 10 days. | Difference in the rate of complete reversal of HE within 10 days was significant between albumin and control groups (75% vs 53.3%, P=0.03). |
| Prevention study | |||||||
| Planas (1990) | Spain | RCT | NA | 88 | Albumin group: when 1L of ascites was removed, 8g albumin was infused. Control group: none. | Improvement of ascites. Incidence of HE. | Three patients developed HE during hospitalization in each group (albumin and control group). |
| Riggio (2015) | Italy | Cohort | NA | 68 | Albumin group: day 1, 2: albumin 1.0g/kg/day; day 4, 7, 14, 21, 28: albumin 0.5g/kg/day. Control group: none. | Incidence of overt HE during first month. | No difference in the incidence of HE between albumin and control groups during the first month (34% vs 31%) or during the whole follow-up (39% vs 48%). |
| Arora (2018) | India | RCT | NA | 59 | Albumin group: when 1L of ascites was removed, 8g albumin was infused. Control group: none. | Improvement of ascites. Incidence of HE. | No difference in the incidence of HE between albumin and control groups (6.7% vs 24%, P=0.06). |
| Caraceni (2018) | Italy | RCT | 2011- 2015 | 431 | Albumin group: albumin 40g twice per week for two weeks, and then 40g albumin per week. Control group: no additional use of albumin, except for standard medical treatment. | Improvement of ascites. Incidence of HE. | Difference in the incidence of HE was significant between albumin and control groups (rate ratio=0.48, 95%CI=0.37 to 0.63, P<0.001). |
| Sola (2018) | Spain | RCT | 2008- 2015 | 173 | Albumin group: albumin 40g per 15 days. Control group: none. | Incidence of complications of cirrhosis. Incidence of HE. | No difference in the incidence of HE between albumin and control groups (28% vs 24%, P=0.635). |
| Di Pascoli (2019) | Italy | Cohort | 2012- 2016 | 70 | Albumin group: albumin 20g twice per week; when 1L of ascites was removed and 6-8g albumin was infused. Control group: no additional use of albumin, except for standard medical treatment. | 24-month mortality. Incidence of HE. | Difference in the incidence of HE was significant between albumin and control groups (26.9% vs 64.5%, P=0.016). |
Abbreviations: HE: Hepatic Encephalopathy; RCT: Randomized Controlled Trial; NA: Not Available.