Abstract
BACKGROUND: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT), a complication of liver cirrhosis, is a major public health concern. PVT prediction is the most effective method for PVT diagnosis and treatment. AIM: To develop and validate a nomogram and network calculator based on clinical indicators to predict PVT in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: Patients with cirrhosis hospitalized between January 2016 and December 2021 at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University were screened and 643 patients with cirrhosis who met the eligibility criteria were retrieved. Following a 1:1 propensity score matching 572 patients with cirrhosis were screened, and relevant clinical data were collected. PVT risk factors were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Variance inflation factors and correlation matrix plots were used to analyze multicollinearity among the variables. A nomogram was constructed to predict the probability of PVT based on independent risk factors for PVT, and its predictive performance was verified using a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Finally, a network calculator was constructed based on the nomograms. RESULTS: This study enrolled 286 cirrhosis patients with PVT and 286 without PVT. LASSO analysis revealed 13 variables as strongly associated with PVT occurrence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed nine indicators as independent PVT risk factors, including etiology, ascites, gastroesophageal varices, platelet count, D-dimer, portal vein diameter, portal vein velocity, aspartate transaminase to neutrophil ratio index, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio. LASSO and correlation matrix plot results revealed no significant multicollinearity or correlation among the variables. A nomogram was constructed based on the screened independent risk factors. The nomogram had excellent predictive performance, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.821 and 0.829 in the training and testing groups, respectively. Calibration curves and DCA revealed its good clinical performance. Finally, the optimal cutoff value for the total nomogram score was 0.513. The sensitivity and specificity of the optimal cutoff values were 0.822 and 0.706, respectively. CONCLUSION: A nomogram for predicting PVT occurrence was successfully developed and validated, and a network calculator was constructed. This can enable clinicians to rapidly and easily identify high PVT risk groups.