Data collection
In total, consecutive 39 subjects with cirrhosis who were being followed
up at the Istanbul Training and Research Hospital in the
Gastroenterology department between December 2019 and February 2020 were
enrolled in this prospective, cross-sectional study. The control cohort
was composed of 41 age- and sex-matched healthy participants. In the
study, the exclusion principles were as the following: patients with a
known congenital cardiac disease, connective tissue disorders, HIV, LV
(left ventricular) systolic or diastolic (> grade II)
dysfunction, moderate-to-severe heart valve disorders, chronic lung
disorder, chronic thromboembolic PAH, chronic renal disorder,
atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, insufficient imaging quality,
and were using medical treatment or illegal drugs accused of PAH
etiopathogeneses. Baseline clinical properties, such as age, gender, and
BMI (body mass index), and the etiology of cirrhosis for all patients
were recorded. For each patient, we calculated the severity of cirrhosis
using the MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease), MELD-Na and CTP
(Child-Turcotte-Pugh) scores (Table 1 ). The clinical conditions
of all cases (whether clinically compensated or decompensated) were
noted.
This prospective, cross-sectional study protocol was approved by the
Institutional Ethics Committee. A written informed consent form was
obtained from all subjects.