Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the clinical usefulness of transabdominal ultrasound (US) in the detection of esophageal varices.
Materials And Methods: Transabdominal US was performed in 47 patients (30 men, 17 women; age range, 18-75 years) with liver cirrhosis or idiopathic portal hypertension. The intraabdominal esophagus was demonstrated satisfactorily, and the findings were correlated with the presence of esophageal varices at endoscopy and angiography. The thickness of the anterior wall of the intraabdominal esophagus was measured and the irregularity of the wall surface documented. Blood flow signal in the esophageal wall also was evaluated with color Doppler and pulsed Doppler examinations.
Results: The mean thickness of the esophageal wall was 5.7 mm +/- 1.7 (standard deviation) in patients with esophageal varices and 3.6 mm +/- 0.96 in patients without varices. This difference was statistically significant (P < .001). Varices also caused irregular wall surfaces. Another specific finding was hepatofugal venous flow within the esophageal wall at Doppler examination. When an esophageal wall thickness of at least 5 mm or an irregular wall surface was used as a diagnostic criterion for esophageal varices, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 93%, 82%, and 89%, respectively.
Conclusion: Transabdominal US can play a role in screening for esophageal varices. The intraabdominal esophagus should be observed during standard abdominal US in patients with chronic liver disease.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/radiology.206.3.9494481 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Safety and Efficacy of Portal Vein Recanalization with Creation of Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (PVR-TIPS) to Treat Chronic Portal Vein Thrombosis in Non-cirrhotic Patients.
Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol
January 2025
Interventional Radiology, Hospital Sírio Libanês, São Paolo, Brazil.
Purpose: This study assesses the efficacy and safety of Portal Vein Recanalization with Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (PVR-TIPS) in non-cirrhotic patients with chronic portal vein occlusion (CPVO), cavernomatous transformation, and symptomatic portal hypertension (PH) and/or portal vein thrombotic progression.
Material And Methods: Medical records of 21 non-cirrhotic patients with CPVO and portal cavernoma undergoing PVR-TIPS were analyzed. Hemodynamic (intraprocedural reduction in portosystemic pressure gradient), clinical (data on gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal pain, ascites, and presence of esophageal varices from imaging exams) and technical success (PVR-TIPS) assessed efficacy.
Objectives: While esophageal varices (EVs) are typically treated endoscopically, other options such as interventional radiology or surgical treatment are considered when endoscopic treatment is challenging. Pipeline EVs are difficult to treat endoscopically due to their large diameter, and currently, no specific treatment guidelines have been established.
Methods: We reviewed cases of pipeline EVs treated at our hospital and analyzed previously reported cases to collect evidence for the formulation of treatment guidelines.
CT-based nomogram predicts esophageal gastric variceal bleeding in noncirrhotic portal hypertension caused by hepatic schistosomiasis.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak
January 2025
Department of Vascular and Wound Center, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201508, China.
Background: To construct a nomogram combining CT varices vein evaluation and clinical laboratory tests for predicting the risk of esophageal gastric variceal bleeding (EGVB) in patients with noncirrhotic portal hypertension (NCPH).
Methods: A total of 315 NCPH patients with non-EGVB and EGVB were retrospectively enrolled and randomly divided into training and testing cohorts. Thirteen collateral vessels were identified and evaluated after CT portal vein system reconstruction.
Two-Dimensional and Point Shear-Wave Elastography to Predict Esophageal Varices and Clinically Significant Portal Hypertension in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease.
J Clin Med
December 2024
Medical Clinic 1, University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
The non-invasive assessment of disease severity remains pivotal in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) as it has wide implications in predicting liver-related complications or death. Shear-wave elastography (SWE) is an emerging ultrasound-based method to non-invasively measure liver stiffness. The aim of our study was to evaluate two-dimensional (2D) and point (p) SWE to predict the presence of esophageal varices (EV) or clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPortal hypertension: recommendations for diagnosis and treatment. Consensus document sponsored by the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH) and the Biomedical Research Network Centre for Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBERehd).
Gastroenterol Hepatol
January 2025
Servicio de Hepatología, Hospital Clínic, Institut de Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Universidad de Barcelona, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Barcelona, España. Electronic address:
Portal hypertension is a hemodynamic abnormality that complicates the course of cirrhosis, as well as other diseases that affect the portal venous circulation. The development of portal hypertension compromises prognosis, especially when it rises above a certain threshold known as clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH). In the consensus conference on Portal Hypertension promoted by the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver and the Hepatic and Digestive diseases area of the Biomedical Research Networking Center (CIBERehd), different aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of portal hypertension caused by cirrhosis or other diseases were discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!