Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS)

Refractory hepatic encephalopathy (RHE) after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a serious complication that can markedly impair quality of life and worsen prognosis. Standard medical management-including lactulose, rifaximin, nutritional support, and correction of precipitating factors-is routinely used; however, some patients continue to experience recurrent hepatic encephalopathy despite optimized therapy. TIPS shunt reduction is an established interventional option for RHE, but current techniques may provide limited ability to precisely control the degree of flow reduction while maintaining procedural safety. The investigators developed a coil-assisted, small-diameter covered-stent technique that deploys coils as an anchor within the existing TIPS tract, followed by placement of a 6-mm balloon-dilated covered stent to achieve controlled reduction in shunt flow. This single-center ambispective cohort study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of this technique in patients with RHE after TIPS by including both retrospective and prospective cohorts. Outcomes will include hepatic encephalopathy severity and recurrence, stent patency, portal hypertension-related complications, changes in portal pressure gradient, liver function parameters, transplant-free survival, and procedure-related adverse events.

The traditional view holds that the natural course of cirrhosis is a unidirectional process, characterized by irreversible progression from the compensated stage to the decompensated stage, and is highly likely to develop further decompensation events or even death. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that the natural course of cirrhosis is not always unidirectional - after the removal of the etiology, the structural and functional changes of the liver may be partially reversed. This understanding has given rise to the concept of "liver recompensation," which has been standardized at the Baveno VII Consensus Conference. Notably, in a cohort of patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis, 18% achieved recompensation, which was significantly associated with a reduction of more than 90% in liver-related mortality. In patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis, 6% achieved recompensation after treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogs, with a similar improvement in mortality. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a well-established therapy for complications related to portal hypertension, including gastroesophageal variceal bleeding, refractory ascites, and hepatic hydrothorax. Compared with standard treatment, TIPS has been proven to reduce the incidence of further decompensation and improve transplant-free survival. However, due to portal blood shunting, the risks of abnormal liver function and hepatic encephalopathy (HE) also increase. It is worth noting that TIPS is not included in the definition of recompensation in the Baveno VII Consensus. Therefore, whether patients with cirrhosis who undergo TIPS treatment can achieve recompensation and which factors determine the probability of recompensation remain unknown. More importantly, the impact of recompensation on the risk of HCC development and mortality in TIPS patients has not been studied prospectively.