Volume : 13, Issue : 08, August – 2026

Title:

FOR THE NON-INVASIVE DETECTION OF GASTRIC AND ESOPHAGEAL VARICES IN CHRONIC HBV AND HCV PATIENTS, TRANSIENT ELASTOGRAPHY OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE TO UPPER ENDOSCOPY

Authors :

Shahzeen Zulfiqar*, Maryam Hameed, Meeran Atta, Ayesha Komal, Laraib Hashmi, Hafiz Muhammad Anas Nawaz

Abstract :

The development of portal hypertension is a common consequence of chronic liver diseases leading to the formation of esophageal and gastric varices responsible for variceal bleeding, associated with a high mortality rate, as well as other severe complications such as portosystemic encephalopathy and sepsis. Measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) and upper GI endoscopy are considered the gold standards for portal hypertension assessment in patients with cirrhosis. However, both types of investigation are invasive, and HVPG measurement is routinely available and/or performed with adequate standards only in expert centres. There is thus a need for non-invasive methods able to predict, with acceptable diagnostic accuracy, the progression of portal hypertension toward the levels of clinically significant (i.e. HVPG P10 mmHg) and severe (HVPG P12 mmHg) as well as the presence and the size of oesophageal varices. Transient elastography (TE) is a novel non-invasive technology that allows measuring liver stiffness and that has gained popularity over the past few years. Although TE has been initially proposed to assess liver fibrosis, a good correlation has been reported between liver stiffness values and HVPG as well as the presence of oesophageal varices, suggesting that it could be an interesting tool for the non-invasive evaluation of portal hypertension. This review is aimed at discussing the advantages and limits of TE and the perspectives for its rationale use in clinical practice for the management of patients with portal hypertension. 2011 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Portal hypertension; HVPG; Oesophageal varices; Endoscopy; Transient elastography; FibroScan.
Received 7 December 2010; received in revised form 6 June 2011; accepted 5 July 2011

Cite This Article:

Please cite this article in press Shahzeen Zulfiqar et al., For the non-invasive detection of gastric and esophageal varices in chronic HBV and HCV patients, transient elastography offers an alternative to upper endoscopy, Indo Am. J. P. Sci, 2026; 13(08).

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