Value of prothrombin time-international normalized ratio to albumin ratio in predicting the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis

Objective  To investigate the value of prothrombin time-international normalized ratio to albumin ratio (PTAR) in evaluating the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Methods  A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 172 patients with decompensated cirrhosis who were admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from April 2016 to April 2017, including sex, age, etiology, complications, and first examination of laboratory markers after admission. With death as the outcome event, the patients were divided into survival group with 98 patients and death group with 74 patients according to the outcome of the disease after 2 years of follow-up. The influencing factors for prognosis were analyzed, and the value of PTAR in predicting the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis were evaluated. The t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups, and the chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for related variables. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated, and the optimal cut-off value was determined according to the sensitivity and specificity of the ROC curve. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis was performed to compare 2-year survival rate between patients with different values of PTAR, indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes (ICGR15), and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and the log-rank test was used for comparison between groups. Results  Compared with the survival group, the death group had significantly higher PTAR (Z=-7.823, P Conclusion  PTAR ≥0.05 can be used as an independent predictive factor for death within 2 years in patients with decompensated cirrhosis, and PTAR has a relatively high value in predicting the prognosis of patients with decompensated cirrhosis.