Insulin resistance is a risk factor for esophageal varices in HCV-induced cirrhosis

none10Indirect methods for predicting the presence of esophageal varices (EV) in cirrhotic patients are not sensitive enough to be used as a surrogate for endoscopy. We tested the effectiveness of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography (TE) and the presence of insulin resistance (IR), a marker associated with fibrosis progression, in the non-invasive prediction of portal hypertension. One hundred and four consecutive patients with newly diagnosed Child A HCV cirrhosis underwent upper GI endoscopy to search for EV. Clinical, anthropometric, biochemical, ultrasonographic and metabolic features, including IR by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), and LSM by TE, were recorded at the time of endoscopy. EV were detected in 63 of 104 patients (60%). In 10 patients (16%) the EV were medium-large (≥ F2). By multivariate analysis presence of EV was independently associated with a low platelet count/spleen diameter ratio (OR 0.998; 95% CI; 0.996-0.999) and with a high HOMA score (OR 1.296; 95%CI; 1.018-1.649) but not with LSM (OR 1.009; 95%CI; 0.951-1.070). It is noteworthy that 9/10 patients with medium-large EV had a platelet/spleen ratio of < 792 and/or a HOMA of > 3.5. The independent association between low platelet/spleen ratio (OR 0.998; 95%CI; 0.996-1.000), high HOMA score (OR 1.373; 95%CI; 1.014-1.859) and presence of EV was confirmed in the sub-group of 77 non-diabetic subjects. Conclusions: In patients with Child A HCV cirrhosis, a low platelet/spleen ratio and a high HOMA score, regardless of diabetes, are the strongest independent predictors of the presence of EV. In this specific setting LSM seems not contribute to the diagnosis of portal hypertension.mixedC. Cammà; S. Petta; V. Di Marco; F. Bronte; S. Ciminnisi; G. Licata; S. Peralta; F. Simone; G. Marchesini Reggiani; A. CraxìC. Cammà; S. Petta; V. Di Marco; F. Bronte; S. Ciminnisi; G. Licata; S. Peralta; F. Simone; G. Marchesini Reggiani; A. Crax