ABSTRACT
Objective:To discuss the effect of sarcopenia (Sa) on the prognosis of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) in patients with portal hypertension (PHT).Methods:Totally 131 PHT patients treated with TIPS were retrospectively collected from August 2013 to December 2017 in the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, and were divided into the Sa group [maximum transverse diameter of the psoas major muscle/height (TPMT/H) ≤16.8 mm/m, n=60] and the control group (TPMT/H>16.8 mm/m, n=71). The patients were followed up with a median time of 42 months. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy, recurrence rate of PHT-related complications and survival rate of PHT patients after TIPS, and the differences were compared by Log-rank test. Results:The incidences of hepatic encephalopathy within 6 months after TIPS and severe hepatic encephalopathy requiring hospitalization in the Sa group [36.7% (95%CI 24.5%-48.8%) and 15.0% (95%CI 6.0%-24.0%)] were higher than those of the control group [15.7% (95%CI 7.3%-24.1%) and 2.8% (95%CI 0-6.7%)], with statistically significant differences (χ2=7.843, 16.442, P=0.005, 0.001). The 5-year overall recurrence rate of PHT-related complications of the Sa group after TIPS [15.8% (95%CI 6.4%-25.2%)] was higher than that of the control group [5.7% (95%CI 0.2%-11.2%)], with a statistically significant difference (χ2=4.431, P =0.035. The 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates in the Sa group were 88.3% (95%CI 80.3%-96.3%), 86.7% (95%CI 78.1%-95.3%) and 77.8% (95%CI 65.1%-90.5%) respectively, which were all lower than those of the control group [97.2% (95%CI 93.3%-100%), 95.8% (95%CI 91.1%-100.0%) and 93.7% (95%CI 87.6%-99.87%) respectively], and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=5.055, P=0.025). Conclusion:Sa has a higher incidence in PHT patients, which can increase the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy and recurrence rate of PHT-related complications, and can decrease the survival rate in PHT patients after TIPS. Hence, the Sa is an indicator of the poor prognosis in PHT patients with TIPS.