Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is an important method for the treatment of cirrhotic portal hypertension; however, its clinical application is limited by postoperative complications such as liver failure and hepatic encephalopathy. This article summarizes and analyzes the research advances in the clinical value of serological markers, clinical indices, and scoring systems in prognostic evaluation of TIPS. Indices can be selected or comprehensive evaluation can be performed based on clinical situations, in order to improve patients’ postoperative survival rate.

Portal hypertension is one of the main clinical manifestations of decompensated cirrhosis. A series of complications due to cirrhotic portal hypertension, such as esophagogastric variceal bleeding, hypersplenism, and intractable ascites, greatly threaten human health. Since the application of the radiological interventional technique in the treatment of portal hypertension in the 1970s, this technique has gradually become mature over the past few decades, and more improvements and new techniques have been applied in clinical practice, with an increasing number of evidence for its efficacy and safety. This article summarizes related articles in China and foreign countries and reviews the clinical application of interventional techniques in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension, in order to guide the treatment of patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension.

ObjectiveTo investigate the value of prothrombin time-international normalized ratio to albumin ratio (PTAR) in evaluating the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 172 patients with decompensated cirrhosis who were admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from April 2016 to April 2017, including sex, age, etiology, complications, and first examination of laboratory markers after admission. With death as the outcome event, the patients were divided into survival group with 98 patients and death group with 74 patients according to the outcome of the disease after 2 years of follow-up. The influencing factors for prognosis were analyzed, and the value of PTAR in predicting the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis were evaluated. The t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups, and the chi-square test or the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for related variables. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated, and the optimal cut-off value was determined according to the sensitivity and specificity of the ROC curve. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis was performed to compare 2-year survival rate between patients with different values of PTAR, indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes (ICGR15), and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and the log-rank test was used for comparison between groups. ResultsCompared with the survival group, the death group had significantly higher PTAR (Z=-7.823, P＜0.001), ICGR15 (t=3.458, P=0.001), and MELD score (t=5.921, P＜0.001). PTAR, ICGR15, and MELD score had optimal cut-off values of 0.05, 41.00%, and 37.25, respectively, in predicting 2-year prognosis, with AUCs of 0849, 0.651, and 0.724, respectively. The survival analysis showed that the high-PTAR (PTAR≥0.05) group had a significantly lower survival rate than the low-PTAR (PTAR＜0.05) group (χ2=60.07, P＜0.001). The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that PTAR ≥0.05 was an independent risk factor for death within 2 years (hazard ratio = 2.564, 95% confidence interval: 1.276-5.151, P=0.008). ConclusionPTAR ≥0.05 can be used as an independent predictive factor for death within 2 years in patients with decompensated cirrhosis, and PTAR has a relatively high value in predicting the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis.