MELD-Na as a prognostic indicator of 30- and 90-day mortality in patients with end-stage liver disease after creation of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

Previous studies have shown that the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is superior to other liver disease scoring systems to establish optimal candidates for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure and liver transplantation. Our aim was to compare MELD-Na score with MELD score as a predictor of 30-day as well as 90-day mortality for individuals with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) after creation of TIPS. We performed a chart review on cirrhotic patients who underwent TIPS procedure and documented presence and severity of ascites and hepatic encephalopathy, patient laboratory values, and results from TIPS procedures. We compared continuous variables by Student's t-test for independent samples and categorical variables by χ 2 -test(s). In non-normal distributions, a nonparametric test was used. We performed a logistic regression to determine the effects of several variables and analyzed variable predictors of likelihood of death within 30 and 90 days of TIPS procedure. Of the six predictor variables, only MELD-Na score was a statistically significant predictor of 30- and 90-day mortality following TIPS procedure for ESLD (P=0.028). For each one point increase in MELD-Na score, the odds of death increased by 1.15 times [95% confidence interval (1.02-1.30), P=0.28]. Since hyponatremia may be associated with poor prognostic features of overall health, its incorporation into the MELD scoring system to predict mortality in ESLD after creation of TIPS serves a useful purpose. Our single-center experience suggests that the MELD-Na score is the most effective predictor of survival after TIPS creation.