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Development and external validation of a predictive model for in-hospital mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis and sepsis
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  • Published: 02 April 2026

Development and external validation of a predictive model for in-hospital mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis and sepsis

  • Yanyu Hu1,
  • Linzhu Zhang2 &
  • Jiangning Yin1,3 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Bacterial infection
  • Liver cirrhosis

Abstract

Cirrhosis has an increasing prevalence globally, and sepsis is a common life-threatening comorbidity of cirrhosis. The cirrhotic population benefits less from the diagnostic decision-making in current guidelines for sepsis. To establish a predictive model and validate its efficiency for predicting the risk of all-cause in-hospital mortality (IHM) in cirrhosis with sepsis. We extracted data of cirrhosis patients with sepsis from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) and the eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD). The MIMIC-IV dataset was assigned at 7:3 to a training set (n = 1701) and an internal validation set (n = 729), and the eICU-CRD dataset as an external validation set (n = 352). Statistically, variables were screened by LASSO regression. We assessed the model performance by ROC, calibration, and decision curve analysis (DCA) curves. Finally, we compared the nomogram with the SAPS-II score and conducted DeLong tests. The model achieved AUCs of 0.783 (95% CI 0.761–0.804), 0.763 (95% CI 0.729–0.796), and 0.745 (95% CI 0.692–0.797) in the training, internal validation, and external validation sets, respectively. Calibration curves showed good agreement. Decision curve analysis demonstrated favorable clinical utility. The nomogram is valuable in early identifying high-risk groups, implementing targeted interventions, reducing IHM, and ameliorating prognosis.

Data availability

MIMIC-IV 3.1 (https//physionet.org/content/mimiciv/3.1) and eICU-CRD (https//physionet.org/content/eicu-crd/2.0/).

Abbreviations

ICU:

Intensive care unit

SQL:

Structured query language

SOFA:

Sepsis-related organ failure assessment

SAPS-II:

Simplified Acute Physiology Score II

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the colleagues and organizations that provided help and guidance.

Funding

This research was not supported by any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing Jiangning Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211100, Jiangsu, China

    Yanyu Hu & Jiangning Yin

  2. Department of Oncology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, Jiangsu, China

    Linzhu Zhang

  3. Nanjing Jiangning Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, No. 169, Hushan Road, Jiangning District, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Jiangning Yin

Authors
  1. Yanyu Hu
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  2. Linzhu Zhang
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Contributions

Yanyu Hu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis , Writing- Original draft preparation. Linzhu Zhang: Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Validation. Jiangning Yin: Methodology, Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Supervision. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiangning Yin.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Data sources

MIMIC-IV 3.1 (https//physionet.org/content/mimiciv/3.1) and eICU-CRD (https//physionet.org/content/eicu-crd/2.0/).

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Cite this article

Hu, Y., Zhang, L. & Yin, J. Development and external validation of a predictive model for in-hospital mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis and sepsis. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43991-x

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  • Received: 19 June 2025

  • Accepted: 09 March 2026

  • Published: 02 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43991-x

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Keywords

  • Cirrhosis
  • Sepsis
  • Nomogram
  • MIMIC-IV
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