Table 1. Demographics and clinical data of pre-TIPS cirrhotic patients and healthy controls.
| Protocols | HC (n = 16) | Patients (n = 16) | P value |
| Sex (M/F) | 9/7 | 9/7 | 1a |
| Age (±SD), y | 47.50±8.97 | 51.00±8.76 | 0.26b |
| Venous blood ammonia (μmol/L) | 35.13±23.19 | ||
| bilirubin (μmol/L ) | 25.14±9.14 | ||
| Albumin (g/L) | 36.11±3.81 | ||
| prothrombin time value (quick) | 14.36±1.89 | ||
| Child-Pugh scale | |||
| A | 12 | ||
| B | 4 | ||
| C | 0 | ||
| NCT-A (s) | 44.41±9.14 | 52.93±12.38 | 0.01b |
| DST (score) | 45.00±11.32 | 34.43±9.53 | <0.01b |
| Before TIPS | 16 | ||
| No HE | 13 | ||
| HE or MHE | 3MHE | ||
| Median 8 days after TIPS | 10 | ||
| No HE | 8 | ||
| HE or MHE | 2 MHE | ||
| Median 3 months after TIPS | 7 | ||
| No HE | 5 | ||
| HE or MHE | 1HE#,1MHE |
Values are expressed as mean ± SD. TIPS = Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt; HC = healthy control; M = male; F = female; SD = standard deviation; NCT = number connecting-A; DST = digit symbol test; HE = hepatic encephalopathy; MHE = minimal hepatic encephalopathy.
a
The P value for gender distribution in the two groups was obtained by chi-square test.
b
The P value for age and neuropsychological tests difference between the two groups was obtained by two sample t test.
#The other HE patient died thus unavailable for follow-up MRI studies.