TIPS Procedure - Liver

My son had a TIPS procedure done last Nov.  What is the longest someone has lived with a TIPS before receiving a transplant?  Also his MELD score keeps changing up & down.  Is this normal?  Over the last year he has had a MELD score of 11,then 13, then 18, then 12, & now it is a 17.  His routine & meds stay the same, the doctors don't know why his score keeps fluctuating so much.

[Thomas D Schiano, MD]

the meld score typically can fluctuate like this.  i know of pts who had TIPS placed in 1991 and are still doing well