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Hepatology
Original article
Identifying optimal candidates for early TIPS among patients with cirrhosis and acute variceal bleeding: a multicentre observational study
  1. Yong Lv1,
  2. Luo Zuo1,
  3. Xuan Zhu2,
  4. Jianbo Zhao3,
  5. Hui Xue4,
  6. Zaibo Jiang5,
  7. Yuzheng Zhuge6,
  8. Chunqing Zhang7,
  9. Junhui Sun8,
  10. Pengxu Ding9,
  11. Weixin Ren10,
  12. Yingchun Li11,
  13. Kewei Zhang12,
  14. Wenguang Zhang13,
  15. Chuangye He1,
  16. Jiawei Zhong2,
  17. Qifeng Peng3,
  18. Fuquan Ma4,
  19. Junyang Luo5,
  20. Ming Zhang6,
  21. Guangchuan Wang7,
  22. Minhuang Sun11,
  23. Junjiao Dong12,
  24. Wei Bai1,
  25. Wengang Guo1,
  26. Qiuhe Wang1,
  27. Xulong Yuan1,
  28. Zhengyu Wang1,
  29. Tianlei Yu1,
  30. Bohan Luo1,
  31. Xiaomei Li1,
  32. Jie Yuan1,
  33. Na Han1,
  34. Ying Zhu1,
  35. Jing Niu1,
  36. Kai Li1,
  37. Zhanxin Yin1,
  38. Yongzhan Nie14,
  39. Daiming Fan14,
  40. Guohong Han1
  1. 1 Department of Liver Diseases and Digestive Interventional Radiology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases and Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
  2. 2 Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
  3. 3 Department of Interventional Radiology, Nanfang Hospital, The Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
  4. 4 Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
  5. 5 Department of Interventional Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
  6. 6 Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China
  7. 7 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China
  8. 8 Hepatobiliaryand Pancreatic Intervention Center, Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
  9. 9 Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
  10. 10 Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China
  11. 11 Department of Interventional Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
  12. 12 Department of Vascular Surgery, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
  13. 13 Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
  14. 14 State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases and Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
  1. Correspondence to Professor Daiming Fan, State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases and Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China; fandaim{at}fmmu.edu.cn and Professor Guohong Han, Department of Liver Diseases and Digestive Interventional Radiology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China; hangh{at}fmmu.edu.cn

Abstract

Objectives Early placement of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) has been shown to improve survival in high-risk patients (Child-Pugh B plus active bleeding at endoscopy or Child-Pugh C 10–13) with cirrhosis and acute variceal bleeding (AVB). However, early TIPS criteria may overestimate the mortality risk in a significant proportion of patients, and the survival benefit conferred by early TIPS in such patients has been questioned. Alternative criteria have been proposed to refine the criteria used to identify candidates for early TIPS. Nevertheless, the true survival benefit provided (or not) by early TIPS compared with standard treatment in the different risk categories has not been investigated in specifically designed comparative studies.

Design We collected data on 1425 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and AVB who were admitted to 12 university hospitals in China between December 2010 and June 2016. Of these, 206 patients received early TIPS, and 1219 patients received standard treatment. The Fine and Gray competing risk regression model was used to compare the outcomes between the two groups that were stratified based on the currently available risk stratification systems after adjusting for liver disease severity and other potential confounders.

Results Overall, early TIPS was associated with an 80% relative risk reduction (RRR) in mortality at 6 weeks (adjusted HR=0.20; 95% CI: 0.10 to 044; p<0.001) and 51% RRR at 1 year (adjusted HR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.73; p<0.001) compared with standard treatment. In stratification analyses, the RRRs in mortality did not significantly differ among the risk categories. However, the absolute risk reductions (ARRs) of mortality were more pronounced in high-risk patients. The ARRs at 6 weeks were −2.1%, −10.2% and −32.4% in Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) ≤11, 12–18 and ≥19 patients and were −1.5%, −9.1% and −23.2% in Child-Pugh A, B and C patients, respectively (interaction tests, p<0.001 for both criteria). The ARRs for mortality at 1 year were −1.7%, −5.4% and −32.7% in MELD ≤11, 12–18 and ≥19 patients, respectively, and −3.6%, −5.2% and −20.3% in Child-Pugh A, B and C patients, respectively (interaction tests, p<0.001 for both criteria). After adjusting for liver disease severity and other potential confounders, a survival benefit was observed in MELD ≥19 or Child-Pugh C patients but not in MELD ≤11 or Child-Pugh A patients. In MELD 12–18 patients, a survival benefit was observed within 6 weeks but not at 1 year. In Child-Pugh B patients, a survival benefit was observed in those with active bleeding but not those without active bleeding. However, the evaluation of active bleeding was associated with a high interobserver variability. Furthermore, early TIPS was associated with a significantly reduced incidence of failure to control bleeding or rebleeding and new or worsening ascites, without increasing the risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy.

Conclusions Early TIPS was associated with improved survival in patients with MELD ≥19 or Child-Pugh C cirrhosis but not in patients with MELD ≤11 or Child-Pugh A cirrhosis. For MELD 12–18 or Child-Pugh B patients, future studies addressing optimal selection criteria for early TIPS remain highly warranted.

  • liver cirrhosis
  • oesophageal varices
  • portal hypertension
  • interventional radiology
  • therapeutic endoscopy

https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2018-317057

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    Footnotes

    • YL, LZ, XZ and JZ contributed equally.

    • Contributors Study concept and design: YL, LZ, ZY, GH. Acquisition of data: LZ, XZ, JZ, HX, ZJ, YZ, CZ, JS, PD, WR, YL, KZ, WZ, CH, JZ, QP, FM, JL, MZ, GW, JD, MS, WB, WG, QW, XY, TY, ZW, BL, XL, JY, NH, YZ, JN, KL, ZY, GH. Analysis and interpretation of data: YL, LZ, GH. Drafting of the manuscript: YL. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: XZ, JZ, HX, ZJ, YZ, CZ, JS, PD, WR, YL, KZ, WZ, ZY, GH. Statistical analysis: YL, LZ. Administrative and material support: YN, DF.

    • Funding This study was supported by grants from Optimized overall project of Shaanxi province (2013KTCL03-05), Boost programme of Xijing Hospital (XJZT11Z07) and National Key Technology R&D Programme (2015BAI13B07).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Ethics committees of Xijing Hospital.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Presented at The abstract of this study was accepted as oral presentation in EASL International Liver Congress on 2018, which was held in France (PS-140).