Gastric varices in patients with portal hypertension: evaluation with multidetector row CT

Abstract

Background: Gastric varices (GVs) are a major cause of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with portal hypertension. Few studies have evaluated GVs with multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT).

Goals: To assess the diagnostic performance of MDCT in detecting GVs and revealing variceal hemodynamic changes in patients with cirrhosis.

Study: A total of 127 consecutive cirrhotic patients who underwent both liver MDCT and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) were analyzed retrospectively. Two independent radiologists reviewed MDCT images for the detection of GVs. The variceal hemodynamic changes were assessed by the 2 radiologists in consensus on MDCT portography.

Results: On the basis of EGD, of the 127 patients, 36 had GVs (28.4%), including small GVs in 15 patients and large GVs (>or=5 mm) in 21 patients. In detecting and grading GVs, there were moderate agreements (kappa value: 0.514 to 0.563) between MDCT and EGD, but in differentiating large varices requiring prophylactic therapy, a substantial agreement (kappa value: 0.804 for radiologist 1 and 0.796 for radiologist 2) was found. For radiologist 1, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of MDCT for the identification of large GVs were 85.7%, 96.2%, 94.5%, 81.8%, and 97.1%, respectively; whereas for radiologist 2, they were 81.0%, 97.2%, 94.5%, 85.0%, and 96.3%, respectively. In evaluating the afferent and efferent veins of varices, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive predictive value of MDCT portography were more than 80.0%.

Conclusions: MDCT is an effective screening tool for differentiating large GVs and revealing the afferent and efferent veins of varices in patients with cirrhosis.