Splenic and Liver Elastography in Prediction of Esophageal Varices and Variceal Severity in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease: A Diagnostic Validation Study

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the value of shear wave elastography (SWE) to predict the presence of esophageal varices (EVs) and to predict high-grade EV in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD).

Methods A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. One hundred twenty-one CLD patients were recruited. Liver stiffness (LS) and splenic stiffness (SS) were measured using SWE.

Results Evaluation of LS is superior to SS in predicting the presence of EV. Evaluation of SS is more valuable than LS in grading EV.

Conclusion LS and SS have good diagnostic performance in predicting and grading varices. SWE is simple to incorporate into standard ultrasonography assessments in patients with CLD. SWE can be used as an adjunct to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to screen and monitor CLD patient.

Keywords

liver stiffness - splenic stiffness - chronic liver disease - shear wave elastography - esophageal varices - upper gastrointestinal endoscopy - ultrasonography

Ethical Statements

This study was conducted after approval of the institute's ethics committee. No animal experiments were done. Informed written consent was obtained from all study participants.

Authors' Contribution

T.P. contributed to data collection, manuscript preparation, and data analysis. K.K.N. contributed to manuscript preparation and editing, and data processing. P.S. and I.P. contributed to data collection. U.C. contributed to the study design and conceptualization, and manuscript editing.

Publication History

Article published online:
02 September 2024

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