Survival and variceal rehemorrhage after shunting support small-diameter prosthetic H-graft portacaval shunt

Small diameter shunts should lead to safe expansion of the use of TIPS

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is increasingly used worldwide to treat the complications of portal hypertension in patients with advanced cirrhosis. However, its use is hampered by the risk of causing hepatic encephalopathy and of worsening liver function. The reported haemodynamic targets used to guide TIPS are too narrow to be achieved in most cases and are perhaps not entirely adequate nowadays as they were obtained in the pre-covered stent era. We propose that small diameter TIPS - alone or combined to pharmacological therapy or ancillary interventional radiology procedures - may overcome these limitations while maintaining the beneficial effects of the procedure.

Long-term results of small-diameter proximal splenorenal venous shunt: A retrospective study

AIM: To investigate recurrent variceal hemorrhage and long-term survival rates of patients treated with partial proximal splenorenal venous shunt.

METHODS: Patients with variceal hemorrhage who were treated with small-diameter proximal splenorenal venous shunt in Ruijin Hospital between 1996 and 2009 were included in this study. Shunt diameter was determined before operation using Duplex Doppler ultrasonography. Peri-operative and long-term results in term of rehemorrhage, encephalopathy and mortality were followed up.

RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients with Child A and B variceal hemorrhage received small-diameter proximal splenorenal venous shunt with a diameter of 7-10 mm. After operation, the patients’ mean free portal pressure (P < 0.01) and the flow rate of main portal vein (P < 0.01) decreased significantly compared with that before operation. The rates of rebleeding and mortality were 6.12% (6 cases) and 2.04% (2 cases), respectively. Ninety-one patients were followed up for 7 mo-14 years (median, 48.57 mo). Long-term rates of rehemorrhage and encephalopathy were 4.40% (4 cases) and 3.30% (3 cases), respectively. Thirteen patients (14.29%) died mainly due to progressive hepatic dysfunction. Five- and ten-year survival rates were 82.12% and 71.24%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Small-diameter proximal splenorenal venous shunt affords protection against variceal rehemorrhage with a low occurrence of encephalopathy in patients with normal liver function.