A novel scoring system for prediction of esophageal varices in critically ill patients

Association of ABO Blood Type with Bleeding Severity in Patients with Acute Gastroesophageal Variceal Bleeding

Background and Objectives: ABO blood types have been implicated as potential risk factors for various hemorrhagic diseases. No study has investigated the association between gastroesophageal variceal bleeding and ABO blood types. We aimed to evaluate the impact of ABO blood types on mortality and bleeding risk in acute gastroesophageal variceal bleeding. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective observational study. Patients presenting with acute gastroesophageal varices bleeding diagnosed by endoscopy were enrolled, and were divided by blood type into a type O group and non-type O group. The outcomes were death within 30 days and the proportion of further bleeding. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models to analyze the outcomes. Results: A total of 327 patients and 648 records of emergency room visits were included. The 30-day mortality was 14.8% (21 of 142 patients) in the type O group, and 16.2% (30 of 185 patients) in the non-type O group (p = 0.532). Further bleeding within 30 days occurred in 34 cases (12.6%) in the type O group, and in 26 cases (6.9%) in the non-type O group (p = 0.539). Conclusions: There was no significant difference in blood transfusion volume in 24 h, recurrent bleeding rates, or mortality between patients with blood type O and those with non-type O.

Evaluation of Non-invasive Fibrosis Markers in Predicting Esophageal Variceal Bleeding

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in liver cirrhosis. In this study, we aimed to predict the possibility of EVB in patients with cirrhosis using a non-invasive score.

METHODS

A total of 359 patients with cirrhosis were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of EVB. ChildTurcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, a model for end-stage liver disease, aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4-index (FIB-4), aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio/platelet ratio index (AARPRI), and S-index were measured for all participants. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained for all parameters, and the optimal cut-off value was determined in predicting EVB.

RESULTS

In patients with EVB, the number of platelets (PLT) were low (p<0.001) and APRI, AARPRI, FIB-4, and S-index were significantly higher than those in patients without EBV. APRI, AARPRI, FIB-4, PLT, and S-index were statistically significant predictors of EVB (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

FIB-4 and AARPRI, which are non-invasive markers of fibrosis, can be used to predict EVB. In addition, the 66.5 109/L cut-off value for PLT is important for EVB.

C-reactive protein for simple prediction of mortality in patients with acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A retrospective analysis

In upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), scoring systems using multiple variables were developed to predict patient outcomes. We evaluated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) for simple prediction of patient mortality after acute non-variceal UGIB.The associated factors for 30-day mortality was investigated by regression analysis in patients with acute non-variceal UGIB (N = 1232). The area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve was analyzed with serum CRP in these patients and a prospective cohort (N = 435). The discriminant validity of serum CRP was compared to other prognostic scoring systems by means of AUROC curve analysis.Serum CRP was significantly higher in the expired than survived patients (median, 4.53 vs 0.49; P < .001). The odds ratio of serum CRP was 4.18 (2.10-9.27) in multivariate analysis. The odds ratio of high serum CRP was higher than Rockall score (4.15 vs 1.29), AIMS65 (3.55 vs 1.71) and Glasgow-Blatchford score (4.32 vs 1.08) in multivariate analyses. The AUROC of serum CRP at bleeding was 0.78 for 30-day mortality (P < .001). In the validation set, serum CRP was also significantly higher in the expired than survived patients, of which AUROC was 0.73 (P < .001). In predicting 30-day mortality, the AUROC with serum CRP was not inferior to that of other scoring systems.Serum CRP at bleeding can be simply used to identify the patients with high mortality after acute non-variceal UGIB.

Validation of Revised Baveno VI Criteria for Screening of Varices Needing Treatment in Children with Cirrhosis

Background

Baveno VI criteria for screening varices needing treatment (VNT) have not yet been validated in an exclusive pediatric and adolescent set of the population, in whom baseline parameters differ in relation to adults. Therefore, our primary objective was to validate Baveno VI and its expanded form in children below 18 years of age. The secondary aim was to elicit whether any revision of the above criteria with a target of not missing more than 5% VNT could be more accurate for this age group.

Materials and Methods

The work was carried out in two medical institutes, over a span of 3 years. Consecutively enrolled patients below 18 years of age, with compensated cirrhosis confirmed by liver biopsy, were evaluated for related blood parameters, transient elastography (TE) and esophagogastroduodenoscopy.

Results

Out of the 33 recruited patients, five (15.15%) met the criteria for VNT. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of Baveno VI and Expanded Baveno VI were observed as 60%, 92.3%, 60% and 92.3%, and 20%, 100%, 100% and 88%, respectively. We found that the Revised Baveno VI criteria with TE <19 kPa and platelet count of >175×10⁹ cells/L, with sensitivity 100%, specificity 79%, PPV 45%, NPV 100% and accuracy of 82%, are more appropriate for this age group.

Conclusion

We propose that further multicentrer studies with a larger sample size should be conducted before incorporating Revised Baveno VI criteria for high-risk varices in patients below 18 years in future guidelines.

Second urgent endoscopy within 48-hour benefits cirrhosis patients with acute esophageal variceal bleeding

Urgent endoscopy (UE) is important to the diagnosis and treatment of liver cirrhosis patients with esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB). It was reported that a second-look endoscopy may benefit acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) caused by peptic ulcer, while whether it could improve UGIB caused by liver cirrhosis associated EVB remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of second UE for liver cirrhosis with EVB and further examined the potential prognostic factors.Patients aged ≥18 years who underwent UE for EVB within 2 hours after the admission were included and divided into scheduled second-look group (n = 245) and uncontrolled bleeding group (n = 352) based on the indications for second UE within 48 hours after initial endoscopy. Demographic and clinical data were collected and analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify the risk factors for prognosis. The value of different scoring system was compared.Statistical differences were found on history of bleeding and hepatocellular carcinoma, ascites, endoscopic type of bleeding, between scheduled second-look group and uncontrolled bleeding group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that ascites, hemoglobin <60 g/L, AIMS65 score and failure to identify in initial UE were independent risk factors for bleeding uncontrolled after initial UE, and age, bilirubin level, initial unsatisfactory UE hemostasis, failure to identify bleeding on initial UE and tube/urgent TIPS suggested in initial UE were independent risk factors for 42-day mortality.A second-look UE could bring benefit for liver cirrhosis patients with EVB without increasing the complication rate.

External validation of Liaoning score for predicting esophageal varices in liver cirrhosis: a Chinese multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Our previous study developed Liaoning score as a non-invasive approach for predicting esophageal varices (EVs) in liver cirrhosis. This nationwide multicenter cross-sectional study aimed to externally validate the diagnostic accuracy of Liaoning score and further evaluate its performance for predicting high-risk EVs.

METHODS

Cirrhotic patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) without history of endoscopic variceal therapy who underwent endoscopic examinations at their admissions were included. Liaoning score and several non-invasive liver fibrosis scores, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI), AST to alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), fibrosis 4 index (FIB-4), King, and Lok scores, were evaluated. Area under curves (AUCs), cut-off value, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated.

RESULTS

Overall, 612 patients were included. The prevalence of EVs and high-risk EVs was 96.2% and 95.6%, respectively. In overall patients, the AUCs of Liaoning score for predicting EVs and high-risk EVs were higher than non-invasive liver fibrosis scores (0.737 versus 0.626-0.721; 0.734 versus 0.611-0.719). The cut-off value of Liaoning score for high-risk EVs was 0.477 with a sensitivity of 81.96% and a specificity of 65.22%. In patients with hematemesis, Liaoning score could significantly predict EVs and high-risk EVs (AUCs =0.708 and 0.702, respectively), but not non-invasive liver fibrosis scores. The cut-off value of Liaoning score for high-risk EVs was 0.437 with a sensitivity of 83.16% and a specificity of 60%.

CONCLUSIONS

Liaoning score should be a non-invasive alternative for predicting EVs and high-risk EVs in cirrhotic patients with acute GIB.

Application value of thromboelastography in perioperative clinical blood transfusion and its effect on the outcome of patient

Application value of thromboelastography (TEG) in perioperative clinical blood transfusion and its effect on the outcome of patient were investigated. Seventy-four patients, admitted to The Surgical Department of the First Hospital of Zibo from March 2015 to March 2018, were selected for this study. Among them, 34 patients took only the traditional coagulation function testing method as the blood transfusion guide during the perioperative period and they were regarded as the control group. The other 40 patients used TEG as the blood transfusion guide during the perioperative period, and they were regarded as the TEG group. The coagulation function indicators in 2 h before the operation and in 24 h after the operation, the transfusion amount and blood loss during the operation, the condition of the blood transfusion during the perioperative period, the occurrence rate of the postoperative rebleeding, the length of hospital stay and mortality of the patients in the two groups were compared. The coagulation function indicators of the patients in the two groups in 2 h before the operation and in 24 h after the operation showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.050). However, APTT and Pt of the patients in the two groups both increased when compared with those before the treatment (P<0.050) and Hb, Hct, Plt and Fib all decreased (P<0.050). The suspended erythrocytes, Plt, fibrinogen and plasma in the TEG group were both significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.001). Compared with the traditional coagulation function test, TEG was more accurate for estimating the coagulation function of patient and was more suitable for estimating the condition of blood transfusion of patient in the perioperative period; also, it could shorten the recovery period of patient and it is worthwhile to promote it in the clinic.