Hepa-National Early Warning Score 2 (Hepa-NEWS2) – Clinical Study

Patients with acute and advanced liver disease are particularly at risk from progressive interactions between circulatory disorders and systemic inflammation. However, timely detection of decompensation is often difficult due to the complexity of the hepatological disease. The current increase in hospital admissions due to liver cirrhosis in Europe and the annual increase in cirrhosis-related deaths make these findings clinically relevant. However, the availability of predictors of short-term mortality in hospitalized patients with chronic liver disease is limited. None of the routinely used liver-specific scores (CP score, MELD, Maddrey, etc.) have yet been validated as a predictor of short-term (<24 hours) mortality in a ward setting. A retrospective study conducted in the UK has already shown that the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) could be a reliable indicator of short-term (<24 hours) deterioration in hospitalized patients with liver disease. The Hepa-NEWS2 study aims to prospectively evaluate the performance of the NEWS2 in acute and chronic liver disease after inpatient admission. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at Kiel University (D 579/25). Publication History Article published online: 26 January 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany