Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 22;87(6):3157-3161.
doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000003305. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Endoscopic evaluation of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in high-risk populations for hepatitis B and C: a cross-sectional study

Masab Ali  1 , Haris Naveed  1 , Muhammad Husnain Ahmad  2 , Ateeq Ur Rehman Sheikh  1 , Umer Hussain  1 , Sana Javeriya  3 , Kanchan Chaudhary  4 , Hafiz Amjad Hussain  1 , Sarmad Naeem  1
Affiliations

Endoscopic evaluation of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in high-risk populations for hepatitis B and C: a cross-sectional study

Masab Ali et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Objective: This cross-sectional study investigates the prevalence and clinical outcomes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) among patients at a tertiary care center. It focuses on esophageal varices and their association with hepatitis C and B infections.

Methods: A total of 383 patients aged 18 and above who presented with UGIB were included. Data were collected from the hospital's endoscopy department and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and R package. Key variables included age, gender, endoscopic findings, and the presence of esophageal varices. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate the association between hepatitis infections and variceal bleeding. The statistical significance cut-off was P <0.05.

Results: The mean age of the 383 patients was 56 ± 11 years, with a male predominance (55.4%). Esophageal varices were the most common finding (78.3%) and were strongly associated with hepatitis C (P < 0.001), with 70.7% of hepatitis C patients presenting with varices. Hepatitis B had a much weaker association, with only 1.7% of patients with varices also testing positive for hepatitis B. Acid peptic disease, present in 11% of cases, was more common in females. The statistical analysis confirmed a significant relationship between hepatitis C and esophageal varices. The study highlights the need for routine variceal screening and hepatitis C management in high-risk populations.

Conclusion: Esophageal varices are the leading cause of UGIB in this population, particularly in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The findings underscore the importance of early intervention and management of hepatitis C to reduce the incidence and mortality associated with variceal bleeding in chronic liver disease patients.

Keywords: endoscopy; hepatitis C; tertiary care centers; upper gastrointestinal bleeding; variceal bleeding.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Depicts the association between esophageal varices and acid peptic disease in different age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Weledji EP. Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: a review. Surg Pract Sci 2020;1:100004.
    1. Raj A, Kaeley N, Prasad H, et al. . Prospective observational study on clinical and epidemiological profile of adult patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected upper gastrointestinal bleed. BMC Emerg Med 2023;23:107. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Iwakiri Y. Pathophysiology of portal hypertension. Clin Liver Dis 2014;18:281–91. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Costable NJ, Greenwald DA. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding. In: Pitchumoni CS, Dharmarajan T, eds. Geriatric Gastroenterology. Cham. Springer; 2021. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30192-7_47. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lanas A, Chan FKL. Peptic ulcer disease. Lancet 2017;390:613–24. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources