Abstract
Background & Aims - Gastro-oesophageal varices (GOV) can occur in early stage primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), making it difficult to identify the appropriate time to begin screening with oesophageo-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD). Our aim was to develop and validate a clinical tool to predict the probability of finding GOV in PBC patients.
Methods - A cross-sectional retrospective study analysing clinical data of 330 PBC patients who underwent an OGD at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle was used to create a predictive tool, the Newcastle Varices in PBC (NVP) Score, that was externally validated in PBC patients from Cambridge (UK) and Toronto (Canada).
Results - 48% of the Newcastle, 31% of the Cambridge, and 22% of the Toronto cohorts of PBC patients had GOV. Twenty-five percent (95% CI 18–32%) of the Newcastle cohort had GOV diagnosed at an index variceal bleed. Of the others, 37% (95% CI 28–46%) bled after a median of 1.5 years (IQR 3.75). Transplant-free survival was significantly better in those without GOV than in those with GOV (p
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 327-335 |
Journal | Journal of Hepatology |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2013 |
Keywords
- Liver disease
- Chronic
- Portal hypertension
- Health economics