Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; complications ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; complications ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Humans

Malnutrition in patients with liver disease is common. Consequently, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy may be needed for the correction of malnutrition. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is rarely performed in patients with liver cirrhosis because of the presence of varices and coagulation abnormalities. However, if careful insertion technique along with thorough clinical assessment is undertaken, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy may be successfully performed in patients with liver cirrhosis. Here, we report successful application of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in a patient with liver cirrhosis accompanied by both gastric and esophageal varices.
Aged ; *Endoscopy ; *Enteral Nutrition ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/*complications ; Gastrostomy/*methods ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications/*therapy ; Male

Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; therapy ; Male

Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; pathology

Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; surgery ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; etiology ; therapy ; Hemostasis, Endoscopic ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; complications

Humans ; Splenectomy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hypertension, Portal/complications* ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/etiology* ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Portal Vein

Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; therapy ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; complications ; therapy ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; therapy ; Portal Vein ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric variceal bleeding is difficult to treat endoscopically because the hemodynamics of the gastric varix are different from that of the esophageal varix. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), which has been used widely, does not always result in the regression of gastric varix and it may aggravate the hepatic encephalopathy. Balloon occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) was introduced as a new procedure for gastric variceal bleeding with minimal invasiveness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects and complications on follow-up of BRTO as a new treatment option for gastric variceal bleeding. METHODS: Patients with gastric variceal bleeding, who were treated with BRTO form September, 2001 to April, 2003, were included in the study. After the definite confirmation of the shunts with abdominal CT, the sclerosing agent, 5% ethanolamine oleate, was injected into the gastric varix during occlusion through gastrorenal shunts. The procedurre was deemed a technical success when the clotting of the sclerosing agent was observed without leakage, and a clinical success when bleeding stopped and the varix decreased in size or was eradicated during the follow-up period (6-23 months, mean: 17.7). RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in 12 of 13 patients (92%) with gastric variceal bleeding. There were no significant side effects. In the one case of failure, the bleeding was controlled with TIPS. Eleven of the 12 patients who had technical success were shown to be clinically successful. The follow-up endoscopic exam showed some aggravation of pre-existing esophageal varices in four patients and a new development of esophageal varices in two patients. Endoscopic variceal ligation was done on one patient in whom esophageal variceal bleeding was present during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: BRTO was proven to be a feasible, safe and less invasive procedure than TIPS and found to be an effective treatment of a gastric variceal bleeding. Considering the possible aggravation of pre-existing esophageal varices or the new development of esophageal varices, regular endoscopic examinations might be needed during the follow-up period.
Adult ; Aged ; *Balloon Occlusion ; English Abstract ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/complications/*therapy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/etiology/*therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate reliability of FibroScan (FS) in diagnosing size of oesophageal varices (OV) in patients with liver cirrhosis.

METHODSA total of 260 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent endoscopy to assess OV stage and FS to measure liver stiffness. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the diagnostic reliability of FS.

RESULTSThe FS values according to OV stage were 20.9 ± 10.3 kPa for patients without OV, 32.2 ± 13.5 kPa for patients with mild OV, 45.6 ± 18.3 kPa for patients with moderate OV, and 55.1 ± 15.6 kPa for patients with severe OV. Significant differences were found among the groups (P < 0.001) as well as between any two groups (t=6.574, 10.533, 13.247, 4.719, 7.072 and 2.171, P less than 0.05 respectively). ROC curves of FS for the diagnoses of patients with various OV stages showed the following:with vs. without OV, 0.824 (95% CI:77.5% to 87.4%); less than moderate vs. more than moderate OV, 0.849 (95% CI:79.6% to 90.2%); and less than severe vs. severe OV, 0.871 (95% CI:81.1% to 93.0%); the corresponding FS cut-off values were 22.8 kPa, 30.6 kPa, and 34.6 kPa.

CONCLUSIONLiver stiffness measurement by FibroScan allows prediction of the oesophageal varices stage in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Adult ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of enhanced nutritional therapy on wound healing after endoscopic therapy in patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices.

METHODSFifty patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices were randomly divided into an enhanced nutritional therapy group (n = 25) and a control group (n = 25). The enhanced nutritional therapy group received one week of enhanced nutritional supplementation, including liver nutritional elements, prior to routine endoscopic therapy. The routine without any change to their diet. The rate of transformation and status of wound healing of esophageal varices were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe ratio of ulcers occurring at the injection site was lower in the enhanced nutrition group than in the control group (16/25 vs. 23/25; x2 = 5.711, P = 0.017). The enhanced nutrition group had only one case of minimal bleeding occurring during endoscopy as compared to the seven cases of bleeding in the control group (x2 = 5.357, P = 0.021). On average, the enhanced nutrition group required less sessions of endoscopic treatment to achieve eradication of esophageal varices than the control group (3.8 vs. 4.1; t = 2.069, P = 0.044).

CONCLUSIONPre-endoscopic enhanced nutritional therapy may benefit patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices by promoting recovery of procedure-related local tissue injury and occlusion of varices.

Adult ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutritional Support ; Wound Healing