AIM: To determine factors predictive for esophagea varices in severe alcoholic disease (SAD). METHODS: Abdominal ultrasonography (US) was performed on 444 patients suffering from alcoholism. Forty-four patients ...AIM: To determine factors predictive for esophagea varices in severe alcoholic disease (SAD). METHODS: Abdominal ultrasonography (US) was performed on 444 patients suffering from alcoholism. Forty-four patients found to have splenomegaly and/ or withering of the right liver lobe were defined as those with SAD. SAD patients were examined by upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy for the presence of esophageal varices. The existence of esophageal varices was then related to clinical variables. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (56.8%) had esophageal varices. A univariate analysis revealed a significant difference in age and type Ⅳ collagen levels between patients with and without esophageal varices. A logistic regression analysis identified type Ⅳ collagen as the only independent variable predictive for esophageal varices (P = 0.017). The area under the curve (AUC) for type Ⅳ collagen as determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for predicting esophageal varices was 0.78. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the level of type Ⅳ collagen has a high diagnostic accuracy for the detection of esophageal varices in SAD.展开更多
文摘AIM: To determine factors predictive for esophagea varices in severe alcoholic disease (SAD). METHODS: Abdominal ultrasonography (US) was performed on 444 patients suffering from alcoholism. Forty-four patients found to have splenomegaly and/ or withering of the right liver lobe were defined as those with SAD. SAD patients were examined by upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy for the presence of esophageal varices. The existence of esophageal varices was then related to clinical variables. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (56.8%) had esophageal varices. A univariate analysis revealed a significant difference in age and type Ⅳ collagen levels between patients with and without esophageal varices. A logistic regression analysis identified type Ⅳ collagen as the only independent variable predictive for esophageal varices (P = 0.017). The area under the curve (AUC) for type Ⅳ collagen as determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for predicting esophageal varices was 0.78. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the level of type Ⅳ collagen has a high diagnostic accuracy for the detection of esophageal varices in SAD.