Measurement and clinical significance of peripheral blood vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with liver cirrhosis and portal vein thrombosis

Objective To investigate the level of vascular endothelial growth factor( VEGF) in the peripheral blood of patients with liver cirrhosis and portal vein thrombosis( PVT) and its clinical significance in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis with PVT. Methods A total of 60 patients with liver cirrhosis and PVT who were followed up or hospitalized in the outpatient service of The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2017 to December 2019 were enrolled as PVT group,and 161 patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension who had no thrombi were enrolled as LC group. Related clinical data were collected,including sex,age,white blood cell count,platelet count,total bilirubin,alanine aminotransferase,albumin,prothrombin time,international normalized ratio,and antithrombin Ⅲ． Double-antibody sandwich ELISA was used to measure the serum level of VEGF. 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 was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Pearson correlation test was used for correlation analysis,and a binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for PVT in patients with liver cirrhosis.Results The comparison of baseline indices showed that there was a significant difference in serum VEGF between the PVT group and the LC group( P < 0. 05). The comparison of the patients with Child-Pugh class A,B or C disease showed that there was a significant difference in serum VEGF between the two groups( Z = 3. 749,5. 469,all P < 0. 05). The stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that only serum VEGF( odds ratio = 1. 004,95% confidence interval: 1. 003-1. 006,P < 0. 001) was an independent risk factor for liver cirrhosis with PVT. Conclusion Patients with liver cirrhosis and PVT tend to have a high level of VEGF in peripheral blood,which provides guidance for clinical diagnosis.