Quantitative measurements of esophageal varices using computed tomography for prediction of severe varices and the risk of bleeding: a preliminary study

Abstract

Abstract Background We aimed to assess whether the quantitative parameters of esophageal varices (EV) based on computed tomography (CT) can noninvasively predict severe EV and the risk of esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB). Methods A total of 136 endoscopically confirmed EV patients were included in this retrospective study and were divided into a non-conspicuous (mild-to-moderate EV, n = 30) and a conspicuous EV group (severe EV, n = 106), a bleeding (n = 89) and a non-bleeding group (n = 47). EV grade (EVG), EV diameter (EVD), cross-sectional surface area (CSA), EV volume (EVV), spleen volume (SV), splenic vein (SNV), portal vein (PV), diameter of left gastric vein (DLGV), and the opening type of LGV were measured independently using 3D-slicer. Univariate and multivariate logistic analysis were used to determine the independent factors and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Results The difference of EVG, EVD, CSA, EVV, DLGV, SNV between the conspicuous and non-conspicuous EV group were statistically significant (p 0.05). Conclusions CT can be used as a noninvasive method to predict the severity of EV, which may reduce the invasive screening of endoscopy.

Keywords

• Computed tomography
• Quantitative parameters
• Esophageal varices
• Esophageal variceal bleeding
• Endoscopy