RESUMO
ObjectiveCirrhotic cardiomyopathy （CCM） refers to cardiac dysfunction and electrophysiological disorder caused by liver cirrhosis and is closely associated with the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis. Endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 （endocan） can be used as a diagnostic marker for cardiovascular diseases， and it remains unclear whether it is involved in the pathogenesis of CCM. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of serum endocan in patients with CCM and its possible role in the development of CCM. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among the patients with liver cirrhosis who were consecutively admitted to Beijing YouAn Hospital， Capital Medical University， from January 2019 to January 2021， and according to the presence or absence of CCM， the patients were divided into CCM group with 19 patients and non-CCM group with 106 patients. ELISA was used to measure the serum level of endocan， and its correlation with liver function and cardiac function was analyzed. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups， and the Mann-Whitney U rank sum test was used for comparison of continuous data with skewed distribution between two groups； the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between indicators， and the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was used to assess the CCM predictive model. ResultsThe CCM group had a significantly higher expression level of serum Endocan than the non-CCM group （2.69±0.43 ng/mL vs 2.23±0.52 ng/mL， t=2.247， P=0.034）. The patients with compensated cirrhosis had a significantly lower expression level of serum endocan than those with decompensated cirrhosis （2.41±0.37 ng/mL vs 2.72±0.49 ng/mL， t=3.214， P=0.02）. In the CCM group， the serum level of endocan was positively correlated with Child-Pugh score （r=0.509， P=0.026） and MELD-Na score （r=0.484， P=0.036） and was negatively correlated with mean arterial pressure （r=-0.591， P=0.013） and mitral ratio of peak early to late diastolic filling velocity （r=-0.515， P=0.042）. The serum endocan had an area under the ROC curve of 0.658 （95%CI： 0.522～0.781） in predicting CCM， when the cut-off value was 2.61 ng/mL， the sensitivity was 67.1% and the specificity was 73.7%. ConclusionThere is a certain association between serum endocan and CCM， and serum endocan may be involved in the pathogenesis of CCM.
RESUMO
Objective Idiopathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (INCPH) is a rare cause of portal hypertension, and this study aims to analyze the clinical features of patients with INCPH, and to assist in diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Methods A total of 74 patients who were hospitalized in Beijing YouAn Hospital from January 2019 to July 2022 and were diagnosed with INCPH were enrolled, and 332 patients with liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized during the same period of time were enrolled as control group. Demographic data, laboratory markers, gastroscopy, liver elasticity, pathological examination, and complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to investigate the ability of liver stiffness measurement (LSM), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) in the differential diagnosis of INCPH, and the DeLong test was used to compare the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. Results Among the patients with INCPH, 46.55% had no obvious symptoms at disease onset and 43.24% were misdiagnosed with liver cirrhosis. Compared with the patients with liver cirrhosis, the patients with INCPH had a significantly higher proportion of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding (62.16% vs 41.27%, χ 2 =10.67, P < 0.01) and a significantly lower proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe ascites (16.21% vs 29.82%, χ 2 =34.98, P < 0.01), and there were few patients with hepatic encephalopathy. As for pathology, 89.19% (66/74) of the INCPH patients manifested as typical occlusive portal vein disease. The statistical analysis showed that compared with the patients with liver cirrhosis, the patients with INCPH had significantly better liver function parameters, MELD score, and Child-Pugh score and significantly lower LSM [9.05(7.18-12.33) vs 25.32(16.21-47.23), Z =-8.41, P < 0.01], APRI score [0.70(0.41-1.28) vs 1.35(0.80-2.39), Z =-6.21, P < 0.01], and FIB-4 index [2.99(1.62-4.81) vs 6.68(4.06-10.42), Z =-8.39, P < 0.01]. LSM, FIB-4, and APRI had a good ability in differentiating INCPH from liver cirrhosis, and in particular, LSM had an AUC of up to 0.92 (95% confidence interval: 0.87-0.96), with a sensitivity of 92.68% and a specificity of 81.60%. Conclusion INCPH patients tend to have an insidious onset, a relatively high incidence rate of portal hypertension-related complications, and relatively good liver function, especially the patients with LSM < 14.5 kPa. The possibility of INCPH should be considered for such patients in clinical practice.