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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Measurement of the Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient and Transjugular Liver Biopsy
Published on: June 18, 2020
Heparin effect on thromboelastography after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure
Ulrich Thalheimer1, Christos Triantos, Dimitrios Samonakis
1The Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK. uthalheimer@gmx.net
Objective:
In patients with cirrhosis and bacterial infection there is impaired coagulation and a heparin effect on thromboelastography (TEG). Our aim was to assess the presence of a heparin effect on heparinase I-modified TEG in patients before and after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). Our hypothesis was that, given the presence of a portosystemic gradient of endotoxaemia, and the role of endotoxaemia on the release of heparinoids, the inflow of portal blood after TIPS might reveal heparinoids through a heparin effect on TEG.
Material And Methods:
Blood samples for heparinase I-modified TEG were taken before, 1 h after, 6 h after and the morning after TIPS, with further daily samples being taken until any TEG changes had reverted to baseline. A heparin effect was defined as an improvement of > or =20% in a TEG variable after addition of heparinase I.
Results:
We studied 10 patients (six males, mean age 48.8 years, mean Child score 8.8). The aetiology of liver disease was alcohol in six patients, Budd-Chiari syndrome in two, and hepatitis C virus and cryptogenic cirrhosis in one each. Indications for TIPS were recurrent variceal bleeding in four patients, refractory ascites or hydrothorax in four and Budd-Chiari syndrome in two. There was a statistically significant worsening in TEG parameters after TIPS placement. In eight patients a heparin effect appeared after TIPS and disappeared within 24-48 h.
Conclusions:
We report the appearance of a transient heparin effect in systemic venous blood after TIPS in patients with cirrhosis or Budd-Chiari syndrome, suggesting the presence of heparinoid substances in the portal venous system in these patients.
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