[When is the best time to perform upper digestive endoscopy to detect the presence of esophageal varices in patients with cirrhosis?].

Introduction: Variceal hemorrhage occurs in 25 to 35% of cirrhotic patients and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and elevated hospital costs. Endoscopic exploration of gastroesophageal varices (GEV) in cirrhotic patients increases costs and involves a certain degree of invasiveness and discomfort for patients. The association between the presence of GEV and spleen size, liver function and platelet count is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between liver function, evaluated by Child-Pugh (Ch-P) classification, platelet count (PC) and spleen volume index (SVI) with the presence of GEV in patients with cirrhosis managed in the outpatient setting.

Patients And Method: Sixty-eight patients were included. In all patients, a medical history was taken and biochemical tests, mode B and Doppler abdominal ultrasonography, and upper digestive video-endoscopy were performed.

Results: A total of 76.47% of the patients were men and 23.53% were women. The median age was 52.8 12.4 years. More than half (54.41%) of the patients were Ch-P grade A, 41.18% were grade B and 4.41% were grade C. The most frequent causes of cirrhosis were alcohol in 52.95% and hepatitis C virus in 17.65%. Esophageal varices (EV) were found in 85.29% of the patients. The median SVI was 50.5 9.2 and the median PC was 150 26 x 109/L. A correlation was found between the presence of EV, SVI >or= 45 and PC < or= 100 x 109/L (r = 0.327; p = 0.006). No correlation was found between the presence of EV and Ch-P grade A. In the multivariate analysis, only the presence of EV was associated with SVI >or= 45 (OR 7.4; 95% CI, 1.30-77.7; p = 0.02).

Conclusion: The presence of EV in cirrhotic patients managed in the outpatient setting was correlated with SVI >or= 45 and PC