Evaluation of Hemodynamic Parameters Following Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS)

Overview

During a TIPS procedure, a shunt or stent (mesh tube) is passed down the jugular vein (the vein above the collarbone in the neck) using fluoroscopy (real time x-rays) guidance. Then, a stent is inserted between the portal vein (vein that carries blood from the intestines into the liver) to a hepatic vein (vein that carries blood away from the liver back to the heart). This means that blood that would usually gets filtered through the liver is now bypassing the liver and going directly to the heart. Because more blood will be flowing to the heart, the heart needs to be strong enough to handle the extra volume. This study is being done to determine the impact of the TIPS procedure on cardiac (heart) function by collecting data (heart pressures) during the TIPS procedure. Immediately after TIPS and at standard follow-up time points, labs and transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE or echo) will also be collected. The device(s) used in this study are neither the intervention studied nor the experimental variable of interest. Devices are commercially available and used, and procedures are performed, in accordance with the institution's standard of care.

The long-term goal of this proposal is to improve survival in patients with end stage liver disease following TIPS placement. Given that the most common indications for TIPS placement are also defining features of decompensated cirrhosis, specifically hemorrhage and refractory ascites, the overall health of this patient population is extraordinarily complex. One notable circulatory impact of cirrhosis is the increase in total blood volume in concert with a disproportionate increase in splanchnic blood volume. Therefore, at the time of TIPS placement, a patient may experience a marked increase in central blood volume that may lead to cardiac dysfunction. Considering that a central feature of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is attenuated response to stress, it is conceivable that some perioperative cardiovascular complications could be attributed to the patient's baseline health rather than an isolated effect of the procedure alone. By instituting measures to identify patients that may be at increased risk for an adverse outcome, this proposal hopes to offer a new paradigm for managing TIPS patients in the acute postoperative setting. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to derive better correlates between non-invasive and invasive measurements of cardiac function.