Patients admitted with acute decompensation of cirrhosis often look similar at presentation but do not remain clinically similar. During the following weeks, some develop acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), some return repeatedly with portal-hypertension-related complications, and others enter a period of relative stability. The PREDICT study described these courses as pre-ACLF, unstable decompensated cirrhosis (UDC), and stable decompensated cirrhosis (SDC). This framework is clinically attractive because it shifts attention from the admission event to the subsequent direction of disease. Its use, however, requires caution. The three groups were defined by outcomes observed over 90 days and are not yet diagnoses that can be assigned reliably when the patient first arrives. In this review, we examine the evidence behind the trajectories and discuss how they may inform care without overstating their present predictive value. Progressive inflammation and declining organ function are most relevant to the pre-ACLF course, whereas UDC is more often associated with recurrent complications in the setting of severe portal hypertension. SDC carries a lower short-term risk, but stability does not necessarily imply recompensation. For current practice, the principal value of the framework is to encourage serial assessment, careful discharge planning, prevention of recurrent decompensation, and timely consideration of transplantation. Prospective models and trajectory-specific trials are still required before these categories can support standardized treatment pathways.

Guorui Xie, Chao Xu. Clinical Courses after Acute Decompensation of Cirrhosis: How the PREDICT Trajectories should be Interpreted. Frontiers in Medical Science Research (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 4: 72-81. https://doi.org/10.25236/FMSR.2026.080409.

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