Prognostic capability of different liver disease scoring systems for prediction of early mortality after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt creation.

PURPOSE: To compare the performance of various liver disease scoring systems in predicting early mortality after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this single-institution retrospective study, eight scoring systems were used to grade liver disease in 211 patients (male-to-female ratio = 131:80; mean age, 54 y) before TIPS creation from 1999-2011. Scoring systems included bilirubin level, Child-Pugh (CP) score, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease sodium (MELD-Na) score, Emory score, prognostic index (PI), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) 2 score, and Bonn TIPS early mortality (BOTEM) score. Medical record review was used to identify 30-day and 90-day clinical outcomes. The relationship of scoring parameters with mortality outcomes was assessed with multivariate analysis, and the relative ability of systems to predict mortality after TIPS creation was evaluated by comparing area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves. RESULTS: TIPS were successfully created for variceal hemorrhage (n = 121), ascites (n = 72), hepatic hydrothorax (n = 15), and portal vein thrombosis (n = 3). All scoring systems had a significant association with 30-day and 90-day mortality (P<.050 in each case) on multivariate analysis. Based on 30-day and 90-day AUROC, MELD (0.878, 0.816) and MELD-Na (0.863, 0.823) scores had the best capability to predict early mortality compared with bilirubin (0.786, 0.749), CP (0.822, 0.771), Emory (0.786, 0.681), PI (0.854, 0.760), APACHE 2 (0.836, 0.735), and BOTEM (0.798, 0.698), with statistical superiority over bilirubin, Emory, and BOTEM scores. CONCLUSIONS: Several liver disease scoring systems have prognostic value for early mortality after TIPS creation. MELD and MELD-Na scores most effectively predict survival after TIPS creation.

Treatment of unresectable primary and metastatic liver cancer with yttrium-90 microspheres (TheraSphere): assessment of hepatic arterial embolization.

In Canada and Europe, yttrium-90 microspheres (TheraSphere); MDS Nordion, Ottawa, Canada) are a primary treatment option for primary and secondary hepatic malignancies. We present data from 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metastatic liver disease treated with TheraSphere from a single academic institution to evaluate the angiographically evident embolization that follows treatment. Seven interventional radiologists from one treatment center compared pretreatment and posttreatment angiograms. The reviewers were blinded to the timing of the studies. The incidence of postembolization syndrome (PES) was determined as well as objective tumor response rates by the World Health Organization (WHO), Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), and European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) criteria. There were 420 independent angiographic observations that were assessed using the chi-squared statistic. The pretreatment and posttreatment angiograms could not be correctly identified on average more than 43% of the time (p = 0.0004). The postprocedure arterial patency rate was 100%. The objective tumor response rates for all patients were 24%, 31%, and 72% for WHO, RECIST, and EASL criteria, respectively. All of the patients tolerated the procedure without complications and were treated on an outpatient basis, and four patients had evidence of PES. This treatment method does not result in macroscopic embolization of the hepatic arteries, thereby maintaining hepatic tissue perfusion. These data support the principle that the favorable response rates reported with TheraSphere are likely due to radiation and microscopic embolization rather than flow-related macroscopic embolization and ischemia.