The Relationship and Changes of Liver Blood Supply, Portal Pressure Gradient, and Liver Volume following TIPS in Cirrhosis

AIM: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) alters the liver blood supply and reduces portal pressure. This study was to investigate the changes and associations of the hepatic blood flow, liver volume, and portal pressure gradient (PPG) after TIPS in liver cirrhosis. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with liver cirrhosis who received TIPS were recruited. The contrast CT images were used to assess the iodine density (ID) of liver parenchymal and liver volume. The ID of the liver parenchyma was used to reflect hepatic blood flow. We used a paired t-test and regression analysis to investigate the effect of TIPS on hepatic blood flow, liver volume, and PPG in individuals with cirrhosis and the factors that affect changes in liver volume. RESULTS: After TIPS, there was a significant improvement in the ID of liver parenchyma at arterial phase (AP) and PPG in individuals with cirrhosis (P < 0.05). Each 1 unit increase in the ID change of whole liver parenchyma at the venous phase (VP) was significantly associated with a 269.44 cm(3) increase in the liver volume after TIPS (b = 269.44, P = 0.012). With an increasing ID change of whole liver parenchyma at VP, the change in liver volume followed an increasing trend (P for overall association = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that there was a significant improvement in hepatic blood flow, especially at AP, after TIPS and the change in hepatic blood supply from the portal vein is positively associated with the change in liver volume after TIPS. Increasing the blood supply to the liver from the portal vein may improve the reduction of liver volume.