Visceral Adipose Tissue Index and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Are Independent Predictors of Outcome in Patients with Cirrhosis Having Endoscopic Treatment for Esophageal Varices

BACKGROUND: The relationship between the amount of adipose tissue and advanced-stage liver cirrhosis with esophageal varices (EV) is unknown. We aimed to reveal the prognostic significance of adipose tissues in patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: We enrolled 87 patients with EV who received initial endoscopic treatment and underwent scheduled treatments in our hospital. Computed tomography (CT) images were obtained of a 5-mm slice at the umbilical level. We evaluated the effect of mortality based on the visceral adipose tissue index (VATI), subcutaneous adipose tissue index (SATI), and visceral to subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (VSR). RESULTS: Cox hazard multivariate analysis showed that the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; hazard ratio [HR]: 4.650, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.750-12.353, p = 0.002), γ-GTP (HR: 1.003, 95% CI: 1.001-1.006, p = 0.026), and VATI (HR: 1.057, 95% CI: 1.030-1.085, p < 0.001) significantly affected mortality. Cox hazard multivariate analysis for liver-related death was also significantly affected by HCC (HR: 1.057, 95% CI: 1.030-1.085, p < 0.001) and VATI (HR: 1.052, 95% CI: 1.019-1.086, p = 0.002). The difference between the Child-Pugh scores 12 months after treatment and that during initial treatment were significantly positively correlated with VATI (r = 0.326, p = 0.027). Patients with high VATI had a significantly higher frequency of HCC after EV treatment by Kaplan-Meier analysis (p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that VATI measured by CT could significantly predict mortality in cirrhosis patients through decreasing liver function and increasing HCC frequency, and appropriately controlling VATI could improve their prognosis.