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A vein-viewing application enabled detecting abdominal wall varices related to the presence of non-treated gastroesophageal varices: a cross-sectional study

Authors :
Yoshiki Hoshino
Takaaki Sugihara
Suguru Ikeda
Yukako Matsuki
Takakazu Nagahara
Jun-ichi Okano
Hajime Isomoto
Source :
BMC Medical Imaging, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
BMC, 2021.

Abstract

Abstract Background Gastroesophageal varices (GOV) are a life-threatening complication in chronic liver disease. A method for non-invasively predicting GOV is crucial for management. This study aimed to determine whether a vein-viewing application can detect abdominal wall varices (AWV) and elucidate the relationship between AWV and GOV. Methods One-hundred patients with chronic liver diseases were prospectively enrolled. All the patients underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy within three months of the enrollment. Unmanipulated images (UI) and vein-weighted images (VWI) were taken for assessing AWV by a vein-viewing application on iPhone. Two doctors independently evaluated both image types. We defined the grading of both UI and AWV as grade 0 (non-detectable), grade 1 (slightly detectable), and grade 2 (distinct). Results The causes of liver diseases among the 71 men and 29 women (median age, 70.5 yr) included Hepatitis B (n = 19), Hepatitis C (n = 21), alcoholism (n = 33), primary biliary cholangitis (n = 3), autoimmune hepatitis (n = 4) and others (n = 20). GOV was indicated in 60 patients, and half of them had not been treated previously (non-treated). VWI could significantly visualize AWV than UI (72% vs. 24%, p = 0.0005). The presence of cirrhosis (chronic hepatitis vs. cirrhosis = 64.6% vs. 91.4%, p = 0.004) and GOV (52.3% vs. 74.3%, p = 0.032) were significantly higher in the VWI-AWV grade 2 group. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that VWI-AWV grade 2 was an independent factor related to the presence of non-treated GOV [OR = 3.05 (1.24–7.53), p = 0.016]. Conclusions The vein-viewing application non-invasively detected AWV related to the presence of cirrhosis and GOV, and VWI-AWV grade 2 was an independent factor related to the presence of non-treated GOV.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14712342
Volume :
21
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
BMC Medical Imaging
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.570db42666ad4bc59f06ab9fc3d4f99e
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-021-00655-8