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PD Dr. Lukas Sturm from the University Medical Center Freiburg receives award for research into special treatment methods for liver cirrhosis

PD Dr. Lukas Sturm, Deputy Section Head in the Department of Internal Medicine II at Freiburg University Hospital, has been awarded this year's Adolf Kußmaul Prize of the Southwest German Society of Gastroenterology. The prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, was presented to him on July 4, 2025 at the 35th annual meeting of the society. Sturm was honored for his research on risk assessment to determine which patients with liver cirrhosis particularly benefit from a liver bypass, known as a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).

"We were able to show that the risk assessment developed in Freiburg makes an intervention for liver cirrhosis safer. I am delighted that this has been recognized with the Kußmaul Prize," says Sturm.

"Dr. Sturm's award is a great recognition of his excellent clinical research. It shows how medical science contributes directly to improving the care of our patients," adds Prof. Dr. Robert Thimme, Medical Director of the Department of Internal Medicine II at the Freiburg University Medical Center.

Cirrhosis of the liver can lead to dangerous high blood pressure in the portal vein, which in turn can cause complications such as ascites or life-threatening bleeding from dilated veins in the oesophagus or stomach. With the TIPS procedure, this pressure can be reduced in a targeted manner by creating an artificial short circuit between two blood vessels in the liver.

Freiburg risk score helps with individual therapy planning

Together with Prof. Dr. Dominik Bettinger, Scientific Director of the TIPS Section of the Department of Internal Medicine II at the Freiburg University Medical Center, Sturm led a study at eight German hospitals with a total of 1,359 patients in which a new risk assessment - the Freiburg Index of Post-TIPS Survival (FIPS) - was used. This helps to assess whether there is a risk of complications such as infections or acute-on-chronic liver failure after the procedure. "Our findings help us to decide more specifically for whom the TIPS procedure makes sense. At the same time, they enable more individualized aftercare - with the aim of improving the chances of survival for seriously ill patients," explains Sturm.