MELD-Na > 16 is associated with high peri-procedural and short-term mortality in patients with ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma treated with emergent transarterial embolization

Clinical and imaging predictors of the natural course of bland portal vein thrombus in cirrhotic patients

BACKGROUND

Portal vein thrombus (PVT) in cirrhotic patients is associated with worsening portal hypertension, leads to increased complexity of necessary interventions such as transjugular liver portosystemic shunt or liver transplantation, and is associated with worse outcomes after liver transplantation. Additionally, there are no established consensus guidelines for management of bland PVT in cirrhotic patients, which currently exists on a spectrum and is patient and provider dependent.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to determine whether there are associations between key clinical and imaging variables and bland PVT burden over time.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This exploratory, retrospective, single-center study included patients who underwent two or more multiphase CT or MRI examinations between 1/1/2013 and 12/31/2019 and had a diagnosis of PVT. Three readers independently evaluated all index and follow-up examinations for PVT burden using a proposed 8-point scale and the established Yerdel score. Key clinical factors were collected from the electronic medical record. The PVT burden over time and the association of this burden with key clinical and imaging variables were assessed using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

138 patients with cirrhosis and bland PVT were included in the analyses. Median age was 60 years (interquartile range 55-67; 90 men) and median follow-up time was 19.6 months. At baseline, the mean score was 2.31 (± 1.44) and at the final follow-up examination, the mean score was 2.52 (± 1.99). Baseline occlusion level was the only statistically significant association with worsening PVT burden in all four vascular territories (p-value < 0.0001). Anticoagulation status did not have a statistically significant association with change in thrombus burden in any vascular territory or cumulative thrombus burden across all territories (p-value 0.11-0.43).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our study shows that in cirrhotic patients with bland PVT, the thrombus burden did not change significantly over time and baseline thrombus burden is the only clinical factor significantly associated with increasing burden over time.

Research progress of spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) with hemorrhage is characterized by rapid onset and progression. The aim of this systematic review was to explore the current studies on rHCC with hemorrhage and determine the optimum treatment strategy.

Method

The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies reporting survival outcomes with comparison between emergency resection (ER) and transarterial embolization following staged hepatectomy (SH) were included by inclusion and exclusion criteria, the perioperative and survival data were statistically summarized using Review Manager 5.3 software.

Result

A total of 8 retrospective studies were included, with a total sample size of 556, including 285 (51.3%) in the ER group and 271 (48.7%) in the SH group. The perioperative blood loss and blood transfusion volume in the SH group were less than those in the ER group, and there were no significant differences in the operative time, incidence of complications, mortality and recurrence rate of tumors between the two groups. The 1-, 2-, 3-year overall survival and 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-year disease-free survival of the ER group were not significantly different from those of the SH group, and the 5-year overall survival rate of ER group was lower than that of the SH group (hazard ratios=1.52; 95% confidence intervals: 1.14-2.03, P=0.005).

Conclusion

There was no significant difference in the short-term efficacy of ER or SH in the treatment of ruptured HCC, and SH was superior to ER in the long-term survival.

Prognosis factors of predicting survival in spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM

To investigate predictors affecting survival in patients with spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma (srHCC).

METHODS

One-hundred-and-twenty-seven patients experiencing srHCC between January 2010 and December 2020 were enrolled. The clinical features, treatments, and outcomes were reviewed. Statistics included univariate analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis, multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazards model and logistic regression model, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 127 srHCC patients, 24, 42, and 61 patients received conservative treatment, surgical treatment, and transarterial chemoembolization/embolization (TACE/TAE) treatment at HCC rupture, respectively. The largest tumor size [hazard ratio (HR) 1.127; p < 0.001], Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage (HR 2.184, p = 0.023), international normalized ratio (INR; HR 3.895; p = 0.012), total bilirubin level (TBil; HR 1.014; p = 0.014), TACE after rupture (compared with conservative treatment) (HR 0.549; p = 0.029), TACE/TAE and surgery at rupture, and albumin level (HR 0.949; p = 0.017) were independent predictors affecting overall survival. A survival predictive model for HCC rupture (SPHR) using these predictors was created. ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the SPHR model for 30 day survival was 0.925, and the AUCs of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and Child-Pugh score for 30 day survival were 0.767 and 0.757, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The largest tumor size, advanced BCLC stage, higher INR and TBil, lower albumin, and conservative treatment were negative independent predictors for overall survival. The SPHR model may be more suitable than the MELD score and Child-Pugh score for predicting 30 day survival in srHCC.