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Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt for Portal Hypertension in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus

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Abstract

Purpose

In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), limited therapeutic options are available for portal hypertension resulted from portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT). We aimed to determine safety and efficacy of TIPS for treatment of symptomatic portal hypertension in HCC with PVTT.

Methods

We evaluated clinical characteristics of 95 patients with HCC and PVTT out of 992 patients who underwent TIPS. The primary endpoints included success rate, procedural mortality, serious complications, decrease in portosystemic pressure gradient, and symptom relief. The secondary endpoints included recurrence of portal hypertension, overall survival, adverse events related to treatments for HCC, and quality of life measured by Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS).

Results

Success rate of TIPS was 95.8% (91/95), with procedural mortality of 1.1%. Serious complications related to TIPS procedure occurred in 2.1% (2/95) of patients. The symptoms of portal hypertension were well relieved. Variceal bleeding was successfully controlled and terminated in 100% of patients, with a recurrence rate of 39.2% in 12 months. Refractory ascites/hydrothorax was controlled partially or completely in 92.9% of patients during 1 month after TIPS, with a recurrence rate of 17.9% in 12 months. Survival rate at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months was 75.8, 52.7, 26.4, and 3.3%, respectively. No unexpected adverse event related to treatments for HCC was observed. The KPS score was 49 ± 4.5 and 63 ± 4.7 before and 1 month after TIPS, respectively (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

TIPS is a safe and efficacious treatment for symptomatic portal hypertension in HCC with PVTT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interventional Therapy, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 10 Tieyi Rd., Yangfangdian, Haidian District, Beijing, 100038, China

    Bin Qiu & Fu-Quan Liu

  2. Department of General Surgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100038, China

    Kai Li

  3. Section of Gastroenterology, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Stephenson Cancer Center, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Xiaoqun Dong

  4. Department of Interventional Therapy, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China

    Bin Qiu

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  1. Bin Qiu
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  4. Fu-Quan Liu
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Contributions

BQ, KL contributed equally to this work; BQ, FL designed the research; FL supervised the study; BQ, KL, XD performed the research, analyzed the data; and BQ, FL wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fu-Quan Liu.

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None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Qiu, B., Li, K., Dong, X. et al. Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt for Portal Hypertension in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 40, 1372–1382 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-017-1655-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-017-1655-8

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