Ronald J, Bozdogan E, Zaki IH, et al. - In this single-institution retrospective study, 141 persons underwent abdominal CT scans within 100 days prior to or 30 days following transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation in order to evaluate the influence of relative sarcopenia with excess adiposity on mortality following TIPS creation. In univariate analyses, important risk factors for shorter survival following TIPS were Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score and relative sarcopenia with excess adiposity. In multivariate analysis, important predictors of worse survival were both MELD score and relative sarcopenia with excess adiposity. No correlation between relative sarcopenia with excess adiposity and number of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) episodes or time to first HE episode were seen. Thus, for mortality following TIPS, relative sarcopenia with excess adiposity is a risk factor and it adds further prognostic information beyond the MELD score.