Objective By detecting the changes of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with cirrhosis,to study the effect of VEGF on the pathogenesis of cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.Methods Determination of 50 cases of cirrhosis group and 30 cases of control group.The levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor in 50 patients with cirrhosis and 30 patients in control group were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA).Results The serum VEGF levels in patients with Child-Pugh A level and B level were significantly higher than those in the control group and patients with Child-Pugh C level; The serum VEGF levels in patients with Child-Pugh A level was higher than that in patients with Child-Pugh B level,there were significant differences (P ＜ 0.05).The serum VEGF level in patients with cirrhosis complicated with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage was higher than that in patients without gastrointestinal bleeding,the difference was significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The serum VEGF level is associated with the degree of liver dysfunction and the upper gastrointestinal bleeding,it can be used as a serological indicators of judging the prognosis of cirrhosis and predicting upper gastrointestinal bleeding.