Background and Aims
The optimal treatment for gastric varices (GVs) is a topic that remains open for study. This study compared the efficacy and safety of endoscopic cyanoacrylate injection and balloon‐occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) to prevent rebleeding in patients with cirrhosis and GVs after primary hemostasis.
Approach and Results
Patients with cirrhosis and history of bleeding from gastroesophageal varices type 2 or isolated gastric varices type 1 were randomized to cyanoacrylate injection (n = 32) or BRTO treatment (n = 32). Primary outcomes were gastric variceal rebleeding or all‐cause rebleeding. Patient characteristics were well balanced between two groups. Mean follow‐up time was 27.1 ± 12.0 months in a cyanoacrylate injection group and 27.6 ± 14.3 months in a BRTO group. Probability of gastric variceal rebleeding was higher in the cyanoacrylate injection group than in the BRTO group (P = 0.024). Probability of remaining free of all‐cause rebleeding at 1 and 2 years for cyanoacrylate injection versus BRTO was 77% versus 96.3% and 65.2% versus 92.6% (P = 0.004). Survival rates, frequency of complications, and worsening of esophageal varices were similar in both groups. BRTO resulted in fewer hospitalizations, inpatient stays, and lower medical costs.
Conclusions
BRTO is more effective than cyanoacrylate injection in preventing rebleeding from GVs, with similar frequencies of complications and mortalities.
Background
Marked changes in hemodynamics have been suggested to be a potential contributing factor to portal vein thrombosis (PVT) development. This study investigated the effect of portal hemodynamics based on the anatomical structure of the portal venous system on PVT development.
Methods
The morphological features of portal venous system in patients with PVT and those without PVT subgroups were compared. In addition, idealized PV models were established to numerically evaluate the effect of the variation in the angulation of superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and splenic vein (SV) on the hemodynamics of portal venous system.
Results
The angle α (angulation of SMV and SV) in patients with PVT was lower than that in patients without PVT (p < 0.0001), which was the only independent risk factor (odds ratio (OR), 0.90 (95% CI 0.84–0.95); p < 0.0001) for the presence of PVT. With the change in angle α, the flow pattern of blood flow changed greatly, especially the helical flow. When α = 80°, helical flow only appeared at the local PV near the intersection of SMV and SV. When α = 120°, most regions were occupied by the helical flow. In addition, the h2 gradually increased with increasing α, when α = 80°, h2 = 12.6 m/s2; when α = 120°, h2 = 29.3 m/s2.
Conclusions
The angulation of SV and SMV was closely associated with PVT development. Helical flow changed following the varying angulation of SV and SMV. Therefore, angulation of SV and SMV may help to identify high-risk cohorts for future PVT development earlier.
Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) is a rare liver disorder due to hepatic vascular injury. Its rapid and accurate diagnosis is crucial for patient survival. SOS is often established clinically, based on Baltimore, modified Seattle, or European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) criteria. Unfortunately, such criteria are not highly specificity and fail to provide a timely, reliable differential diagnosis. The use of noninvasive imaging techniques, such as ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT), has recently grown in this setting, some key imaging features offering diagnostic improvement. This review provides a synopsis of current noninvasive imaging techniques used for this purpose, summarizing accurate and reliable diagnostic features of SOS.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.