The combined modality treatment of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and/or portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis

Objective:To explore the better therapeutic method in treating upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage for portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.Methods:109 patients, who underwent percutaneous transhepatic variceal embolization (PTVE) plus partial splenic embolization (PSE) from 1990 to 2006, were retrospectively analyzed in this study. All these enrolled patients were firstly subjected to PTVE and, if effective, received PSE subsequently,with a median follow-up of at least one year.Results:Of the 109 patients, 96 had no reoccurrence of hemorrhage within 1 years, in which 78 were under the efficiently control of hemorrhage as well as hypersplenism within 3 years.Conclusion:Currently, this combined modality therapy is the best clinical choice for the treatment of such severe complications in patients with liver cirrhosis.