Table 1.

Baseline Characteristics of the Study Population

Characteristic	BRTO group (n=157)	TIPS group (n=19)	p-value
Age, yr	59.4±10.2	54.4±7.4	0.039
Sex			0.234
Male	122 (77.7)	17 (89.5)
Female	35 (22.3)	2 (10.5)
Etiology of liver cirrhosis			0.525
HBV	75 (49.3)	12 (63.1)
Alcoholic	38 (25.0)	4 (21.1)
HCV	24 (15.8)	2 (10.5)
Autoimmune	12 (7.9)	0
HBV and alcoholic	2 (1.3)	1 (5.3)
HBV and HCV	1 (0.7)	0
Concurrent HCC			0.014
No	77 (49.0)	15 (78.9)
Yes	80 (51.0)	4 (21.1)
Liver transplantation			0.964
No	141 (89.8)	17 (89.5)
Yes	16 (10.2)	2 (10.5)
GV type			0.884
GOV 1	17 (10.8)	1 (5.3)
GOV 2	85 (54.1)	10 (52.6)
GOV 3	44 (28.0)	5 (26.3)
GOV 4	2 (1.3)	0
Presence of active bleeding	15 (9.6)	8 (42.1)	0.001
Initial mean blood pressure, mm Hg	83.2±15.9	79.8±17.1	0.385
Initial hemoglobin, g/dL	9.1±2.2	10.4±2.3	0.015
Time to intervention, hr	55.2±59.0	47.0±40.4	0.556
Albumin, g/dL	2.8±0.6	2.9±0.8	0.457
Creatinine, mg/dL	1.2±1.3	1.2±0.6	0.947
Total bilirubin, mg/dL	3.5±6.2	2.0±1.1	0.293
Prothrombin time, INR	1.5±0.5	1.6±0.6	0.391
Ascites			0.260
None	116 (73.9)	17 (89.5)
Mild to moderate	27 (17.2)	2 (10.5)
Severe	14 (8.9)	0
Portosystemic encephalopathy			0.236
None	136 (86.6)	19 (100)
Mild to moderate	13 (8.3)	0
Severe	8 (5.1)	0
Child-Pugh score	8.0±2.0	7.3±2.0	0.160
MELD score	13.6±7.7	14.3±7.1	0.705

Data are presented as the mean±SD or number (%).

BRTO, balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration; TIPS, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; GV, gastric varices; INR, international normalized ratio; MELD, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.