Aim: to evaluate the feasibility of 2D-SWE in cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices and the performance of 2D-SWE for predicting the presence of esophageal varices.
Methods: the study group included 71 subjects diagnosed with cirrhosis by clinical, biological, ultrasound and/or endoscopic criteria. All subjects underwent 2D-SWE with an AixplorerTM ultrasound system (SuperSonic Imagine S.A., Aix-en-Provence, France). In each patient we aimed to perform three liver stiffness measurements, with the patient in supine position and then a mean value was calculated and expressed in kiloPascals (kPa).
Results: the study included 71 subjects, 65.2% men and 34.8% women with a median age of 60.5 years (ranging between 22-82 years).The etiology of the liver cirrhosis was: HCV-22.2%, HBV-12.5%, HCV and HBV-2.7%, ethanol-13.8% and other etiologies-47.2%. Esophageal varices were present in 39.4% of cases and significant esophageal varices (grade II and III) in 22.5%. 2D-SWE had similar feasibility in patients with and without esophageal varices: 85.7% vs. 88.3%, (p=0.90). The mean 2D-SWE values (kPa) were similar in patients with and without esophageal varices:
30±13.5 vs. 24.8±12.7, (p=0.1). The mean 2D-SWE values (kPa) were also similar in patients with significant esophageal varices (grade II and III) vs. those without or grade I esophageal varices: 32.4±13.4 vs. 25.3±14 kPa, (p=0.1).
Conclusion: 2D-SWE is a feasible method in patients with cirrhosis and esophageal varices but seems to not be able to predict the presence of esophageal varices. On the other hand further studies, in a larger number of patients, are still needed.
