One‐year status of hepatic venous pressure gradient measurement from 85 hospitals in China

Abstract

AimsSurveys and research on the applications of the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) are important for understanding the current status and future development of this technology in China. This article aimed to investigate the status of hepatic venous pressure gradient measurement in China in 2022.MethodsWe investigated the overall status of HVPG technology in China—including hospital distribution, hospital level, annual number of cases, catheters used, average cost, indications, and current challenges by using online questionnaire. By counting the number and percentages of cases of these results, we hope to clarify the current status of HVPG measurements in China.ResultsAccording to the survey, 85 hospitals in China used HVPG technology in 2022 distributed across 29 provinces. A total of 4989 HVPG measurements were performed in all of the surveyed hospitals in 2022, of which 2813 cases (56.4%) were measured alone. The average cost of HVPG measurement was 5646.8 ± 2327.9 CNY. Of the clinical teams who performed the measurements (sometimes multiple per hospital), 94.3% (82/87) used the balloon method, and the majority of the teams (72.4%, 63/87) used embolectomy catheters.ConclusionsThis survey clarified the clinical application status of HVPG in China and confirmed that some medical institutions in China have established a foundation for this technology. It is still necessary to continue promoting and popularizing this technology in the future.