Table 4.
Patient characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with and without IL-6 decrease 3 months after TIPS implantation.
| Patient characteristics | IL-6 decrease (n = 72) | No IL-6 decrease (n = 37) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, male/female (% male) | 47/25 (65.3) | 25/12 (67.6) | 0.811 |
| Age, years (IQR) | 57 (51–65) | 60 (48–69) | 0.739 |
| Etiology | 0.427 | ||
| ALD, n (%) | 44 (61.1) | 19 (51.4) | |
| Viral hepatitis, n (%) | 4 (5.6) | 1 (2.7) | |
| Mixed etiology, n (%) | 7 (9.7) | 2 (5.4) | |
| MASH, n (%) | 6 (8.3) | 3 (8.1) | |
| Cryptogenic, n (%) | 3 (4.2) | 4 (10.8) | |
| Other, n (%) | 8 (11.1) | 8 (21.6) | |
| TIPS indication, n (%) | 0.186 | ||
| Ascites, n (%) | 54 (75.0) | 25 (67.6) | |
| Variceal bleeding, n (%) | 12 (16.7) | 11 (29.7) | |
| Both, n (%) | 6 (8.3) | 1 (2.7) | |
| Child-Pugh stage | 0.735 | ||
| A, n (%) | 13 (18.1) | 9 (24.3) | |
| B, n (%) | 43 (59.7) | 20 (54.1) | |
| C, n (%) | 16 (22.2) | 8 (21.6) | |
| MELD at BL, points (IQR) | 11 (9–13) | 10 (9–14) | 0.724 |
| MELD at M3, points (IQR) | 12 (10–15) | 13 (11–15) | 0.113 |
| Albumin at BL, g × dl-1 (IQR) | 33.8 (29.5–37.0) | 34.8 (30.6–38.1) | 0.494 |
| Bilirubin at BL, mg × dl-1 (IQR) | 0.8 (0.5–1.5) | 1.0 (0.6–1.3) | 0.770 |
| INR at BL, units (IQR) | 1.3 (1.1–1.4) | 1.3 (1.1–1.4) | 0.626 |
| Creatinine at BL, mg × dl-1 (IQR) | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 1.0 (0.8–1.4) | 0.336 |
| Sodium, mmol × L-1 (IQR) | 135 (133-138) | 135 (133–138) | 0.981 |
| PPG before TIPS, mmHg (IQR) | 16 (13–19) | 16 (14-20) | 0.543 |
| PPG after TIPS, mmHg (IQR) | 6 (5–8) | 7 (6–9) | 0.094 |
| IL-6 at BL, pg × ml-1 (IQR) | 10.9 (4.3–29.4) | 10.3 (2.1–20.8) | 0.062 |
| IL-6 at M3, pg × ml-1 (IQR) | 5.0 (2.0–12.0) | 13.5 (5.1–30.8) | <0.001 |
| CRP at BL, mg × dl-1 (IQR) | 1.0 (0.3–2.2) | 0.6 (0.3–1.2) | 0.077 |
| Follow-up time, days (IQR) | 601 (275–1073) | 421 (275–736) | 0.273 |
| ACLF, n (%) | 9 (12.5) | 12 (32.4) | 0.013 |
| Liver transplantation, n (%) | 7 (9.7) | 4 (10.8) | 0.858 |
| Death, n (%) | 11 (15.3) | 10 (27.0) | 0.141 |
| Liver-related death, n (%) | 9 (12.5) | 10 (27.0) | 0.058 |
ALD, alcohol-related liver disease; BL, baseline; CRP, C-reactive protein; IL-6, interleukin-6; INR, international normalized ratio; MASH, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis; MELD, model for end-stage liver disease; PPG, portal pressure gradient; TIPS, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Continuous variables were compared by Mann–Whitney U test. Pearson’s Χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate, were used for group comparisons of categorical variables. Bold p values denote a statistically significant difference.