Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to compare conventional ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) in assessing stent function in patients with cirrhotics with portal hypertension (PH) after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) treatment. Methods 80 patients with hepatitis B-induced liver cirrhosis (LC) with PH were encountered in our hospital between November 2021 and October 2024, and all underwent TIPS routinely. Patients received digital subtraction angiography (DSA), conventional ultrasonography and CEUS examinations after surgery. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic efficacy, and diagnostic consistency was assessed by Kappa analysis. Results By end of six months after TIPS, DSA found stent function normal in 73 cases(91.3%) and disabled stent function in 7 cases (8.7%) in the 80 patients with LC; conventional ultrasound found disabled stent function in 5 cases and CEUS found in 6 cases; the AUC was 0.857(95%CI:0.761-0.925)by conventional ultrasound in judging stent function disable, with sensitivity(Se), specificity(Sp), accuracy(Ac), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 57.1%, 98.6%, 95.0%, 80.0% and 96.0%, and the AUC was 0.929(95%CI:0.848-0.974)by CEUS, with Se, Sp, Ac, PPV and NPV of 71.4%, 98.6%, 96.3%, 83.3% and 97.3%, respectively, with the consistence satisfactory (Kappa>0.640). Conclusion We recommend conventional ultrasonography for assessing stent function in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension after TIPS, and CEUS could be done unless necessary.

Key words: Liver cirrhosis, Portal hypertension, Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, Ultrasonography, Stent function, Diagnosis