LETTER

Right liver lobe diameter:albumin ratio: a new non-invasive parameter for prediction of oesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis (preliminary report)

Tamara Alempijevic¹, Nada Kovacevic¹

¹ Clinic for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia; altam@eunet.yu

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Portal hypertension commonly accompanies liver cirrhosis, and development of oesophageal varices is among the major complications of portal hypertension. Patients with cirrhosis should be screened for the presence of oesophageal varices when portal hypertension is diagnosed. To reduce the increasing burden of endoscopy units, some studies have attempted to identify parameters for non-invasive prediction of the presence of oesophageal varices.

We read with great interest the article by Giannini et al (Gut 2003;52:1200–5). Besides the confirmation of proposed platelet count:spleen diameter ratio in predicting the presence of oesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis, we introduced a new measurement for predicting oesophageal varices. Our preliminary study included 58 patients with cirrhosis who underwent a complete biochemical investigation, upper digestive endoscopy and ultrasonographic examination. Right liver lobe diameter:albumin ratio has been calculated and correlated with the presence and grade of oesophageal varices. All patients gave their written . . . [Full text of this article]

R Testa²

² Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Santa Corona Hospital and University of Genoa, Pietra Ligure and Genoa, Italy; rtesta@unige.it

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Relevant Article

Platelet count/spleen diameter ratio: proposal and validation of a non-invasive parameter to predict the presence of oesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis

E Giannini, F Botta, P Borro, D Risso, P Romagnoli, A Fasoli, M R Mele, E Testa, C Mansi, V Savarino, and R Testa
Gut 2003 52: 1200-1205. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]