Preliminary assessment of miniprobe sonography in the diagnosis of gastric varices and evaluation of treatment with Histoacryl

OBJECTIVE: In comparison with conventional endoscopy, the clinical value of miniprobe sonography (MPS) was assessed both in the diagnosis of gastric varices (GV) and in the evaluation of its treatment with the tissue adhesive agent Histoacryl. METHODS: Twelve patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension caused by hepatitis B in nine cases and hepatitis C in three cases were examined by MPS to verify the presence of gastric fundic varices before and after endoscopic treatment with Histoacryl. Curative efficacy of Histoacryl treatment was defined by the finding of variceal lumen obliteration characteristics in the ultrasonic image. RESULTS: Gastric fundic varices were detected in 10 patients by using MPS, however, only seven cases were detected by using conventional macroscopic examination. For gastric fundic varices, the diagnostic accuracies of standard endoscopy and MPS were 75% (9/12) and 100% (12/12), respectively. Furthermore, MPS was able to produce a practical ultrasonic image of complete or incomplete variceal vessel lumen obliteration for use in the assessment of the efficacy of endoscopic treatment with Histoacryl. CONCLUSIONS: Miniprobe sonography was found to be significantly superior to conventional macroscopic diagnosis in both the detection of fundic varices and the evaluation of the efficacy of endoscopic therapy. Moreover, MPS could play an important role in follow up and in evaluation of the need for further treatment. Therefore, MPS appears to be a safe and very useful clinical technique in evaluating patients with portal hypertension with respect to the detection of fundic varices and may help in selecting patients for appropriate therapy.