Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026
12:27
Technique of Porcine Liver Procurement and Orthotopic Transplantation using an Active Porto-Caval Shunt
Published on: May 7, 2015
16.4K
Sarcopenia as a Risk Factor in Patients Undergoing Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) Implantation
Laura Büttner1, Annette Aigner2, Regina Stegherr2
1Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 13, 2025
Summary
Sarcopenia, a loss of muscle mass, is linked to worse outcomes after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedures. Identifying sarcopenia using CT scans can help predict complications and mortality in TIPS patients.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
- Artificial Intelligence
Background:
- Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) implantation can alter patient body composition.
- Changes in body composition may affect complications and survival rates post-TIPS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of an AI-based tool for automated CT body composition analysis in TIPS patients.
- To investigate the impact of sarcopenia at the time of TIPS implantation on clinical outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an AI tool to analyze CT scans for visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), psoas muscle area (PMA), and total abdominal muscle area (TAMA).
- Defined sarcopenia using lumbar skeletal muscle index (LSMI) thresholds for men and women.
- Employed Cox regression models to assess the association between sarcopenia and post-TIPS complications, hepatic encephalopathy, and mortality.
Main Results:
- No significant longitudinal changes in body composition parameters were observed post-TIPS.
- Sarcopenia at TIPS implantation was associated with an increased risk of postinterventional complications (HR 1.67).
- Sarcopenia correlated with a higher risk of hepatic encephalopathy (HR 1.65) and one-year mortality (HR 1.39).
Conclusions:
- AI-driven CT body composition analysis can identify high-risk patients undergoing TIPS.
- Sarcopenia is a significant predictor of increased mortality and post-TIPS complications, especially hepatic encephalopathy.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Portal Hypertension
50
Portal hypertension is an increase in blood pressure within the portal venous system. Normally, this pressure is less than 5 mmHg. It is considered clinically significant when it rises above 10 mmHg. At this threshold, complications from altered blood flow and venous congestion emerge.EtiologyPortal hypertension arises from conditions that impede blood flow through the liver. The most common cause is cirrhosis, in which chronic liver injury leads to fibrotic scarring. This fibrosis narrows or...
50
01:29Hepatic Encephalopathy
53
DefinitionHepatic encephalopathy is a reversible neurologic syndrome that results from advanced liver dysfunction or portosystemic shunting. It leads to disturbances in cognition, behavior, and motor function due to the brain’s exposure to gut-derived toxins that the liver fails to detoxify.EtiologyThis condition develops either in the setting of acute fulminant hepatitis or progressively during chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Portosystemic...
53