Validation of the Nanjing Criteria for Diagnosing Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids-induced Hepatic Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome

Background and Aims:Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome(HSOS)is caused by toxic injury to sinusoidal endothelial cells in the liver.The intake of pyrrolizidine alkaloids(PAs)in some Chinese herbal remedies/plants remains the major etiology for HSOS in China.Recently,new diagnostic criteria for PA-induced HSOS(i.e.PA-HSOS)have been developed;however,the efficacy has not been clinically validated.This study aimed to assess the performance of the Nanjing criteria for PA-HSOS.Methods:Data obtained from consecutive patients in multiple hospitals,which included 86 PA-HSOS patients and 327 patients with other liver diseases,were retrospectively analyzed.Then,the diagnostic performance of the Nanjing criteria and simplified Nanjing criteria were evaluated and validated.The study is registered in www.chictr.org.cn(ID:ChiCTR1900020784).Results:The Nanjing criteria have a sensitivity and specificity of 95.35%and 100%,respectively,while the simplified Nanjing criteria have a sensitivity and specificity of 96.51%and 96.33%,respectively,for the diagnosis of PA-HSOS.Notably,a proportion of patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome(11/49)was misdiagnosed as PA-HSOS on the basis of the simplified Nanjing criteria,and this was mainly due to the overlapping features in the enhanced computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging examinations.Furthermore,most of these patients(10/11)had occlusion or thrombosis of the hepatic vein,and communicating vessels in the liver were found in 8/11 patients,which were absent in PA-HSOS patients.Conclusions:The Nanjing criteria and simplified Nanjing criteria exhibit excellent performance in diagnosing PA-HSOS.Thus,both could be valuable diagnostic tools in clinical practice.