Noninvasive scores for the prediction of esophageal varices and risk stratification in patients with cirrhosis.

Noninvasive scores for the prediction of esophageal varices and risk stratification in patients with cirrhosis. World J Hepatol. 2020 Nov 27;12(11):908-918 Authors: Bangaru S, Benhammou JN, Tabibian JH Abstract The primary purpose of variceal screening in patients with cirrhosis is to detect gastroesophageal varices at high risk of hemorrhage and implement preventative intervention(s). It was previously recommended that all patients with cirrhosis undergo initial and periodic longitudinal variceal screening via upper endoscopy. However, there has been growing interest and methods to identify patients with cirrhosis who may not have clinically significant portal hypertension and therefore be unlikely to have varices requiring intervention or benefit from upper endoscopy. Because the population of patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease continues to grow, it is neither beneficial nor cost-effective to perform endoscopic variceal screening in all patients. Therefore, there is ongoing research into the development of methods to non-invasively risk stratify patients with cirrhosis for the presence of high-risk esophageal varices and effectively limit the population that undergoes endoscopic variceal screening. This is particularly important and timely in light of increasing healthcare reform and barriers to healthcare. In this review, we discuss and compare, with respect to test characteristics and clinical applicability...
Source: World Journal of Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: World J Hepatol Source Type: research