ObjectiveTo analyze and compare the clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with porto-sinusoidal vascular disease (PSVD) and liver cirrhosis (LC), so as to provide a reference for reducing misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. MethodsThe patients who underwent liver biopsy in the Department of Infectious Diseases in the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from January 2008 to December 2022 were retrospectively collected. The clinical, biochemical, imaging, and liver biopsy pathological data of the patients with PSVD and LC were compared. ResultsA total of 45 patients with PSVD and 48 patients with LC were included. The males to females ratio in the patients with PSVD and LC was 25∶20 and 21∶27, respectively, and the average age of the patients with PSVD was younger than that of the patients with LC (P<0.001). The patients with PSVD had overall better liver function, although the proportion of the patients with the Child-Pugh class B in the two groups was all higher, the proportion of patients with the Child-Pugh class B and the end stage liver disease model score ≥10 points in the patients with PSVD was lower (nearly three times) than those in the patients with LC (P<0.05). The initial diagnosis rate of the patients with PSVD was lower than that of the patients with the LC (6.7% vs. 95.8%, χ2=74.0786, P<0.001). The imaging findings of the patients with PSVD as compared with LC showed that the proportion of the portal hypertension was higher (33.3% vs. 39.6%) in both, but the flow velocity of the portal vein was faster (P=0.039), and the extrahepatic bile duct diameter was smaller (P=0.001). The main specific manifestations of liver biopsy histopathology in the patients with PSVD were the portal occlusion [19 (42.2%)], nodular regenerative hyperplasia [1 (2.2%)], and incomplete septal cirrhosis or fibrosis [14 (31.1%)], as well as the non-specific manifestation was the fine bile duct reaction [8 (17.8%)]. And the proportion of the patients with the liver tissue inflammatory activity grading (G) and liver fibrosis staging (S) ＞G2S2 in the patients with PSVD was lower as compared with the patients with LC [12 (26.7%) vs. 48 (100%), χ2=54.560, P<0.001]. ConclusionThe diagnosis of PSVD and LC should “seek common ground while reserving differences”, and it is necessary that a routine examination in combination with imaging manifestation and liver pathology, and should focus on a liver vascular abnormality so as to reduce a rate of misdiagnosis.