Hepatic hydrothorax is a relatively infrequent but potentially serious complication of cirrhosis resulting from the accumulation of ascitic fluid in the chest cavity. Medical management is initially directed at controlling ascites formation, but invasive therapeutic procedures may be required if sym
Use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts after liver transplantation
β Scribed by James D. Perkins
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 87 KB
- Volume
- 15
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1527-6465
- DOI
- 10.1002/lt.21800
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β¦ Synopsis
Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) have been used to control symptomatic portal hypertension in patients awaiting liver transplant. Although their role in pretransplantation patients is well established, their role in posttransplantation patients is unclear. Study Design: Retrospective analyses were performed for 18 liver-transplant recipients who underwent TIPS for recurrent end-stage liver disease. Patients were evaluated in regard to gender, age, diagnoses, allograft type, indication for TIPS, portal pressures, laboratory results, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and outcomes. Results: Median days from transplant to TIPS was 939 days (range, 122 to 3,415 days). Indications included variceal bleeding (n Ο 2) and ascites (n Ο 16). Ten patients (56%) responded to TIPS; TIPS prevented bleeding in both patients with varices, and it achieved symptomatic benefit in half of all patients with ascites. TIPS reduced median portal pressures from 22 mmHg (range, 17 to 50 mmHg) to 16 mmHg (range, 11 to 22 mmHg) and median portosystemic pressure gradients from 18 mmHg (range, 8 to 30 mmHg) to 8 mmHg (range, 2 to 12 mmHg). It increased median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores from 16 (range, 12 to 29) to 17 (range, 10 to 34) immediately and to 22 (range, 10 to 35) at 1 month. Six patients (33%) underwent retransplantation at a median of 58 days (range, 21 to 71 days) post-TIPS. Of the remaining 12 patients, 3 (25%) were alive and well at a median of 90 days (range, 78 to 1,169 days) post-TIPS; 9 (75%) died at a median of 99 days (range, 13 to 1,400 days) post-TIPS. Subgroup analysis failed to demonstrate significant differences between patients whose ascites responded to TIPS (n Ο 8) and patients whose ascites did not (n Ο 8). Responders were younger, had higher baseline portal pressures, greater reductions in portal-systemic pressure gradients, and better hepatic function. Conclusions: Though small, this was the largest series to date of TIPS in liver-transplant recipients. Overall, 56% of patients responded to TIPS. No single factor predicted response or nonresponse of ascites to TIPS. Without retransplantation, 75% of patients died. Careful selection is necessary when considering TIPS for patients with ascites.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
The role of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) insertion in managing the complications of portal hypertension is well established, but its utility in patients who have previously undergone liver transplantation is not well documented. Twentytwo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT
venous pressure and the severity of PSE after TIPS are inversely related. 12 In 1992, Sanyal et al reported a post-TIPS patient with Naked we came into the world, and naked we shall depart hemolytic anemia and progressive hepatic encephalopathy from it. (HE), which they attributed to the stent, 13
jects. However, it is self-limited and rarely requires SEE EDITORIAL ON PAGE 177. intervention. Potential mechanisms of such hemolysis are discussed. TIPS is also not recommended as a means of improving platelet counts in patients with Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) severe hyp
The authors correctly caution that their prognostic score must be externally validated before use in a clinical setting. Hopefully, with further studies and validation, a recommendation can be made on which patients with BCS should proceed beyond TIPS in a timely manner to liver transplantation.