Assessment of Right Liver Lobe Size/Serum Albumin Ratio as A New Non-Invasive Predictor for The Presence of Oesophageal Varices in Egyptian Patients with HCV Related Liver Cirrhosis

Background: Oesophageal varices (OV) are discovered in 24% and up to 80% of cirrhotic liver cirrhotic patient and the severity of varices differs from patient to another, oesophageal endoscopy is the best method for evaluating OV.
Objective: As a non-invasive indicator of OV in cirrhotic patients, we hypothesize that we can use the right liver lobe diameter/serum albumin ratio. This will allow us to limit the usage of screening endoscopy.
Patients and Methods: Sixty individuals with cirrhotic liver were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Two equal groups of patients (N=30) were formed: Group (1), which included patients with cirrhosis due to HCV infection with or without LCF and Group (2), which included patients with matching ages and sexes who were visiting an endoscopic unit for problems other than cirrhosis.
Results: Oesophageal varices was statistically correlated with Rt liver lobe diameter/serum albumin ratio (RLLD/Alb). The sensitivity and specificity were 95.7 % and 93.3% respectively and the cutoff point value was >3.98. Plt count/spleen diameter ratio (P/S) demonstrated a statistical correlation with incidence of esophageal varices. The sensitivity was 90.4% and specificity was 98.2% with best cutoff point value≤16.3.
Conclusions: Physicians can benefit from using RLLD/Alb (with or without P/S) as a non-invasive OV predictor.