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World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2026; 18(5): 118030
Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i5.118030
Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i5.118030
Spleen stiffness accurately tracks early and sustained portal pressure changes after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
Rui-Quan Zhou, Pei-Jun Yang, Li-Guo Liu, Hai-Dong Tan, Second Department of Hepato
Jian-Bin Zhang, Zhi-Dong Ye, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
Co-first authors: Rui-Quan Zhou and Pei-Jun Yang.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhi-Dong Ye and Hai-Dong Tan.
Author contributions: Zhou RQ designed and performed research; Yang PJ analyzed data and provided biostatistical review; Liu LG contributed to methodology development and data visualization; Zhang JB and Ye ZD conducted vascular surgery procedures and recruited patients; Ye ZD and Tan HD reviewed and edited the manuscript. Zhou RQ and Yang PJ contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. The designation of Ye ZD and Tan HD as co-corresponding authors is justified by their complementary and equally essential contributions to the conception, execution, and oversight of this study. Ye ZD, from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, played a pivotal role in the procedural aspects of TIPS placement and hemodynamic data acquisition, while Tan HD, Chief Physician of the Second Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, led patient selection, clinical management, and interpretation of liver disease-related outcomes. Both provided critical intellectual input, supervised data analysis, and jointly ensured the scientific integrity and clinical relevance of the research. Given their shared leadership across interventional and hepatological domains-central to the multidisciplinary nature of TIPS evaluation-dual corresponding authorship accurately reflects their equal responsibility and contribution to this work.
Supported by General Project of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine 2023 Annual Science and Technology Development Program, No. 2024-HX-21.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by our Institutional Review Board of China-Japan Friendship Hospital (No. 2024-KY-090).
Informed consent statement: The informed consent for the study was obtained from all the patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Due to ethical and legal restrictions related to patient confidentiality, the full dataset cannot be publicly shared. De-identified data are available upon reasonable request to Hai-Dong Tan at hpblt_cjfh@126.com, with approval from the Institutional Review Board of China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
Corresponding author: Hai-Dong Tan, MD, Chief Physician, Second Department of He
Received: December 23, 2025
Revised: January 16, 2026
Accepted: February 12, 2026
Published online: May 27, 2026
Processing time: 156 Days and 23.8 Hours
Revised: January 16, 2026
Accepted: February 12, 2026
Published online: May 27, 2026
Processing time: 156 Days and 23.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study demonstrates that spleen stiffness measurement (SSM), assessed by vibration-controlled transient elastography, strongly correlates with both baseline portal pressure and its reduction after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), outperforming liver stiffness measurement. Although neither parameter reliably predicts successful hemodynamic response to TIPS, SSM emerges as a robust non-invasive tool for monitoring portal pressure changes over time, particularly valuable when repeated invasive measurements are impractical.