Abstract
The formation and rupture of esophageal and gastric varices are severe but common complications of hepatic cirrhosis. They represent the cause underlying more than one forth of all deaths in cirrhotic patients and exact an impressive burden in terms of survival, quality of life and health care resource consumption. Therapeutic options for the control of active variceal hemorrhage comprise pharmacological agents, endoscopic techniques and surgery. Of these, the only options immediately available in the absence of highly specialized medical personnel are vasoactive drugs, namely vasopressin and derivatives and somatostatin and derivatives. Despite this clear advantage, the role of pharmacological treatment is still debated; furthermore, there’s no consensus on the drug of choice for variceal bleeding control. In this paper the main pharmacological and clinical features of terlipressin, a synthetic vasopressin analog, are outlined, as well as a frame for its pharmacoeconomical evaluation. Terlipressin is the only vasoactive drug that demonstrated survival benefits in cirrhotic patients with active variceal hemorrhage, even in those treated with endoscopic sclerotherapy, and is characterized by a favorable risk/benefit ratio. The relative cost-effectiveness of the different drugs, nevertheless, is yet to be determined by methodologically rigorous studies, partly because at the present state of the research there still are clinical and economical uncertainties to be cleared.