Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the patient cohort
| Demographics | n (%) or mean ± SD |
| n | 418 |
| Age (yr) | 55.8 ± 11.6 |
| Male gender | 242 (57.9) |
| Etiologies of portal hypertension | |
| NASH cirrhosis | 132 (31.6) |
| Alcohol induced liver disease | 105 (25.1) |
| HCV | 105 (25.1) |
| Primary sclerosing cholangitis | 16 (3.8) |
| Primary biliary cirrhosis | 11 (2.6) |
| Others1 | 49 (11.7) |
| Patient comorbidities | |
| Systemic hypertension | 155 (37.1) |
| Hypothyroidism | 50 (12.0) |
| COPD/ILD | 34 (8.1) |
| Sleep apnea | 20 (4.8) |
| Cardiac heart failure | 18 (4.3) |
| Chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis | 17 (4.1) |
| Valvular heart disease | 17 (4.1) |
| Sarcoidosis | 5 (1.2) |
| Splenectomy | 5 (1.2) |
| Scleroderma | 4 (1.0) |
| Cocaine use | 4 (1.0) |
| HIV | 1 (0.2) |
| Indications for TIPS | |
| GI bleeding | 182 (43.5) |
| Refractory ascites | 157 (37.6) |
| Hepatic hydrothorax | 51 (12.2) |
| Others2 | 28 (6.7) |
| Basic laboratory parameters | |
| Serum albumin (g/dL) | 2.9 ± 0.7 |
| Serum bilirubin (mg/dL) | 3.0 ± 5.4 |
| INR | 1.3 ± 0.4 |
| Serum creatinine (mg/dL) | 1.3 ± 1.1 |
| Platelets (K/μL) | 115.3 ± 77.6 |
Other etiologies of portal hypertension include hepatitis B virus, autoimmune hepatitis, alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency, Budd Chiari syndrome, hemochromatosis, Wilson’s disease, sarcoidosis, cystic fibrosis, biliary atresia, portal vein thrombosis, nodular regenerative hyperplasia, veno-occlusive disease and Caroli’s disease;
Other indications for TIPS include hepatorenal syndrome, portal hypertensive gastropathy, superior mesenteric vein thrombosis, splenomegaly and the need to decrease the portal pressure prior to a surgical intervention. COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus; ILD: Interstitial lung disease; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; TIPS: Transjugular portosystemic shunt; INR: International normalized ratio.