Targeted puncture of left branch of intrahepatic portal vein in transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt to reduce hepatic encephalopathy

Table 1 Baseline characteristics in the two groups

Characteristics	Group A	Group B	P value
Gender, M/F	398/539	166/141	0.308
Age in yr, mean ± SD	44.48 ± 18.23	40.80 ± 17.76	0.381
Child-Pugh A/B/C	79/729/137	25/160/122	0.753
MELD score, mean ± SD	13.19 ± 7.35	12.26 ± 8.47	0.591
Viral hepatitis	585	194	0.947
Chronic ethanol consumption	210	61	0.651
Autoimmune hepatitis	53	23	0.463
Metabolic liver disease	89	29	0.527
Variceal hemorrhage	653	236	0.163
Refractory ascites	384	117	0.125
Laboratory tests
Alanine transaminase in U/L	69.13 ± 12.21	56.24 ± 11.17	0.615
Aspartate transaminase in U/L	56.14 ± 14.19	49.53 ± 12.24	0.653
Alkaline phosphatase in U/L	129.63 ± 26.32	136.46 ± 27.02	0.534
γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in U/L	236.23 ± 62.46	248.13 ± 53.32	0.561
Total bilirubin in μmol/L	24.32 ± 5.63	26.46 ± 6.37	0.482
Albumin in g/L	29.14 ± 7.22	31.23 ± 6.52	0.237
Prothrombin time in s	16.03 ± 7.31	18.46 ± 5.17	0.316
Clinical presentations
Abdominal distention	627	193	0.164
Abdominal pain	48	17	0.237
Weakness	473	136	0.253
Poor appetite	729	275	0.428
Jaundice	15	6	0.107
Splenomegaly	482	174	0.316
Lower limbs edema	136	57	0.263
Endoscopic therapy	1736	625	0.421
Ascites paracentesis	1492	479	0.304

No difference could be seen in terms of age, sex, Child-Pugh score, Model of End-Stage Liver Disease score, laboratory tests and clinical presentations (P > 0.05). MELD: Model of End-Stage Liver Disease; SD: Standard deviation.