Influence of portal vein thrombosis on the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis based on propensity score matching

Objective  To investigate the influence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) on the short-term prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis and the risk factors for the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods  A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients with liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized in our hospital from September 2018 to March 2020, among whom 58 patients with PVT were enrolled as PVT group and 116 patients without PVT were enrolled as non-PVT group, and 44 patients were selected from each group based on propensity score matching (PSM) at a ratio of 1∶ 1 to balance the covariates between groups. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank method were used to analyze survival status and bleeding before and after PSM, and the Cox risk model was used to analyze the risk factors for the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis. Results  Before PSM, the non-PVT group had a significantly higher overall survival rate than the PVT group (P=0.008), while after PSM, there was no significant difference in overall survival rate between the two groups (P=0.076). Before PSM, the non-PVT group had significantly lower incidence rates of upper gastrointestinal bleeding or rebleeding than the PVT group before and after PSM (P Conclusion  Liver cirrhosis with PVT increases the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding or rebleeding, but it is not an independent risk factor for short-term death in patients with liver cirrhosis. MELD score ≥15 is an independent risk factor for short-term death in patients with liver cirrhosis.