This study examines the effectives of a recent set of guidelines published by the Baveno VI conference, which states that patients with chronic liver disease and a low liver stiffness (<20kPa) and high platelet count (>150) are at low risk of having varices and do not need a screening endoscopy. Varices are a complication of cirrhosis, confer a risk of serious bleeding, and can be diagnosed and treated by endoscopy. Our study reviewed the clinical records of patients who have had liver stiffness scans and endoscopy over a 9-year period at two hospitals. The results show that only about 2% of patients who meet the Baveno VI criteria will be miss-classified as not having varices.
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