Are Non Invasive Test Good Enough to Predict Gastroesophageal Varices in Patients with Compensated Advanced Chronic Liver Disease?

Liver stiffness and platelet count for identifying patients with compensated liver disease at low risk of variceal bleeding

“…We screened 419 references; 160 were selected for full‐text retrieval. Of these, 15 were included in the analysis …”

“…Although several studies have indicated that patients with a transient elastography <20 kPa and a platelet count >150 000/mm³ had a low risk of presenting oesophageal varices and an even lower risk for varices at risk of bleeding, some studies did not reach that conclusion . This difference may have been due to a limited sample size resulting in insufficient statistical power.…”

“…Although several studies have indicated that patients with a transient elastography <20 kPa and a platelet count >150 000/mm³ had a low risk of presenting oesophageal varices and an even lower risk for varices at risk of bleeding, 7-9 some studies did not reach that conclusion. 10,11 This difference may have been due to a limited sample size resulting in insufficient statistical power. As a result, the magnitude of the difference in the risk of presenting varices between patients fulfilling Baveno VI criteria and those who do not fulfill these criteria remains unsettled and rigorous analysis of all available data from all studies is required.…”