Karen Krok, MD - Penn State Cancer Institute
Researcher Profile
Karen Krok, MD
Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Medicine
Director of Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Director of Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Disease Teams:
Cancer Institute, Liver, Pancreas and Foregut Cancer Team
Research Interests
Dr. Karen Krok joined Penn State College of Medicine in 2013. Her research interests include post-liver-transplant outcomes, focusing on patients transplanted for hepatitis C; the cardiovascular complications of patients after a liver transplant; pulmonary complications of liver disease; and outcomes of heart-liver transplants in the congenital heart disease population.
Dr. Krok is the site PI for a multicenter trial, Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease 3 Study Group, which assesses the pulmonary complications and hormonal changes in patients with pulmonary hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome. She has successfully recruited for and been the site PI for several multi-site and pharmaceutical clinical trials.
As the congenital heart disease population is aging, there is more evidence of liver disease associated with the Fontan circulation. Dr. Krok has served on an international multi-specialty group that developed recommendations about how to follow these patients clinically.
- Liver Transplantation
- Therapeutics
- Liver Diseases
- Liver
- Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
- Fibrosis
- Blood Vessels
- Survival
- Chronic Disease
- Incidence
- Lung
- Confidence Intervals
Recent Publications
2024
Krok, KL 2024, 'Do not underestimate the impact of hepatic hydrothorax on survival before and after liver transplant', Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 115-116. https://doi.org/10.1097/LVT.0000000000000286
2023
Dubrock, HM, Forde, K, Krok, K, Patel, M, Al-Naamani, N, Lin, G, Oh, JK, Fallon, MB, Kawut, SM & Krowka, MJ 2023, 'Cardiac index and hepatopulmonary syndrome in liver transplantation candidates: The pulmonary vascular complications of liver disease study', Liver Transplantation, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 467-475. https://doi.org/10.1097/LVT.0000000000000112
Cox-Flaherty, K, Moutchia, J, Krowka, MJ, Al-Naamani, N, Fallon, MB, Dubrock, H, Forde, KA, Krok, K, Doyle, MF, Kawut, SM & Ventetuolo, CE 2023, 'Six-Minute walk distance predicts outcomes in liver transplant candidates', Liver Transplantation, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 521-530. https://doi.org/10.1097/LVT.0000000000000071
2022
Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease Study Group 2022, 'Impact of hepatopulmonary syndrome in liver transplantation candidates and the role of angiogenesis', European Respiratory Journal, vol. 60, no. 2, 2102304. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02304-2021
Stine, JG, Schreibman, IR, Faust, AJ, Dahmus, J, Stern, B, Soriano, C, Rivas, G, Hummer, B, Kimball, SR, Geyer, NR, Chinchilli, VM, Loomba, R, Schmitz, K, Sciamanna, C, Strine, C, Wentzel, R, Marlin, S, Sica, C, Vesek, J, Eyster, E, Sinoway, L, Bentz, K, Handley, N, Hershey Fell, B, Mottilla, S, Christ, C, George, S, Novchich, T, Beyer, M, Clarke, K, Myers, T, Glading-Steinruck, M, Krok, K, Ma, T, Riley, T, Thompson, E, Tressler, H, Broach, J, Doan, T, Patrick, S, Reed, S, Hamilton, C, Slavoski, K & Tregea, D 2022, 'NASHFit: A randomized controlled trial of an exercise training program to reduce clotting risk in patients with NASH', Hepatology, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 172-185. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.32274
Jain, A, Haussner, D, Hranjec, T, Butt, F, Stine, JG, Ankola, A, Al Yousif, H, Dicristina, R, Krok, KL & Arenas, J 2022, 'Review of Sarcopenia and Testosterone Deficiency With Chronic Liver Disease and Postoperative Liver Transplant Utility of Short-Term Testosterone Replacement Therapy', Experimental and Clinical Transplantation, vol. 20, no. 11, pp. 1000-1008. https://doi.org/10.6002/ect.2022.0132
2021
Kadry, Z, Schaefer, E, Krok, K, Faust, A, Stine, JG, Schreibman, IR, Bezinover, D & Riley, TR 2021, 'Excellent outcomes with liver transplantation in hepatopulmonary syndrome across pre-transplant PaO2 spectrum', JHEP Reports, vol. 3, no. 5, 100351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2021.100351
Kadry, Z, Stine, JG, Dohi, T, Jain, A, Robyak, KL, Kwon, O, Hamilton, CJ, Janicki, P, Riley, TR, Butt, F, Krok, K, Schreibman, IR, Bezinover, D, Ghahramani, N, Campos, S & Hollenbeak, CS 2021, 'Renal Protective Effect of Everolimus in Liver Transplantation: A Prospective Randomized Open-Label Trial', Transplantation Direct, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. E709. https://doi.org/10.1097/TXD.0000000000001159
2020
Rochon, ER, Krowka, MJ, Bartolome, S, Heresi, GA, Bull, T, Roberts, K, Hemnes, A, Forde, KA, Krok, KL, Patel, M, Lin, G, McNeil, M, Al-Naamani, N, Roman, BL, Yu, PB, Fallon, MB, Gladwin, MT & Kawut, SM 2020, 'BMP9/10 in Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease', American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, vol. 201, no. 12. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201912-2514LE
Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease Study Group 2021, 'Estrogen Signaling and Portopulmonary Hypertension: The Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease Study (PVCLD2)', Hepatology, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 726-737. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31314
Jain, A, Riley, TR, Krok, KL, Schreibman, I, Karamchandani, DM, Liao, X, Tian, Y, Dohi, T & Kadry, Z 2020, 'Incidence of post-liver transplant hepatic dysfunction after sustained virologic response following direct-acting anti-hepatitis c therapy', Experimental and Clinical Transplantation, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 345-352. https://doi.org/10.6002/ect.2018.0127
DuBrock, HM, Krowka, MJ, Krok, K, Forde, K, Mottram, C, Scanlon, P, Al-Naamani, N, Patel, M, McCormick, A, Fallon, MB & Kawut, SM 2020, 'Prevalence and Impact of Restrictive Lung Disease in Liver Transplant Candidates', Liver Transplantation, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 989-999. https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.25794