View clinical trials related to Esophageal Varices.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to determine the effect on the (carbon 13 labelled(13C)-Methacetin Breath Test (MBT) of i.v. propranolol, a non-selective beta blocker (NSBB) following initial administration and after chronic use of each of these agents. The correlation of the MBT with Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) measurement before and after treatment will be assessed. Additionally, the MBT measurements following 60 days of therapy will be compared to the first MBT measurement and to the second MBT measurement, post HVPG. Each patient's subsequent MBT measurement will be compared to his previous MBT results in order to determine his/her response to therapy.
This is a pilot study of a novel disposable transnasal esophagoscope for feasibility, safety and tolerance.
In the last years, important advances have been done in the treatment and prevention of esophageal variceal bleeding. Experts agree that the combination of pharmacological and endoscopic therapy should be the first line therapy in the acute bleeding episode; whereas TIPS (transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt) is considered a rescue therapy. Nevertheless, some patients would require different therapies to act as a "bridge" until definitive therapy can be instituted. Balloon tamponade (using the Sengstaken tube) represents, up to now, the most widely used temporary "bridge" to TIPS. However, balloon tamponade is associated with a high incidence of serious adverse events. Recently, the use of self-expanding metal stents have been introduced in the treatment of acute variceal bleeding showing a very high hemostatic efficacy with no adverse events. The present study is directed to compare the efficacy free of adverse events and mortality of self-expanding metal stents vs balloon tamponade in patients with variceal bleeding refractory to medical and endoscopic therapy.
Octreotide is used to control variceal bleeding. However, octreotide has to be given through the vein and is effective for less than two hours. In this study the investigators determined whether a long-acting preparation of octreotide (Sandostatin LAR)given as an intra-muscular injection every month could decrease portal pressure, and thus be used to prevent variceal bleeding in patients with cirrhosis.
Previous studies showed that combination of endoscopic therapy with vasoconstrictor is better than either vasoconstrictor or endoscopic therapy alone in achieving the successful hemostatsis of acute variceal bleeding. The rationale of using vasoconstrictor is to enhance the efficacy of hemostasis by endoscopic therapy. Nowadays, endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) has replaced endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) as the endoscopic treatment of choice in the arresting of acute esophageal variceal hemorrhage. EVL alone can achieve hemotasis up to 97% even in cases of active variceal hemorrhage. However, early rebleeding due to ligation-induced ulcer may be encountered. It appears that prevention of esophageal ulcers and bleeding by a proton pump inhibitor may be more logical than using a vasoconstrictor after cessation of bleeding by EVL.
Esophageal capsule endoscopy is sedation-less alternative to upper endoscopy for evaluating esophageal lesions and potentially other upper gastrointestinal lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether esophageal capsule endoscopy is convenient and accurate as upper endoscopy for detection of esophageal varices and related lesions.
This is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the effectiveness of treatment with beta-blockers to prevent decompensation of cirrhosis with portal hypertension.
Increasing intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) with an abdominal binder will increase pressure within smaller esophageal varices which will therefore enhance the ability of capsule endoscopy to detect these varices better. Therefore, the aims of the investigators' study are as follows: 1. To determine if using an abdominal binder to increase IAP can increase the detection rate of small esophageal varices when using capsule endoscopy. 2. To determine if using an abdominal binder to increase IAP during capsule endoscopy has a comparable detection rate of small esophageal varices to conventional endoscopy.
Patients with cirrhosis require endoscopic screening for large esophageal varices. The aims of this study were to determine the cost -effectiveness and patient preferences of a strategy employing abdominal computerized tomography (CT) as the initial screening test for identifying large esophageal varices. In a prospective evaluation,102 patients underwent both CT and endoscopic screening for gastroesophageal varices. Two radiologists read each CT independently; standard upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was the reference standard. Agreement between radiologists, and between endoscopists regarding size of varices was determined using kappa statistic. Cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to determine the optimal screening strategy for varices. Patient preference was assessed by questionnaire. CT was found to have an approximately 90% sensitivity in the identification of esophageal varices determined to be large on endoscopy, but only about 50% specificity. The sensitivity of CT in detecting gastric varices was 87%. In addition, a significant additional number of gastric varices, peri-esophageal varices, and extraluminal pathology were identified by CT but not identified by endoscopy. Patients overwhelmingly preferred CT over endoscopy . Agreement between radiologists was good regarding the size of varices (Kappa = 0.56), and exceeded agreement between endoscopists (Kappa = 0.36). Use of CT as the initial screening modality for the detection of varices was significantly more cost-effective compared to endoscopy irrespective of the prevalence of large varices. In conclusion, abdominal CT as the initial screening test for varices could be cost-effective. CT also permits evaluation of extra-luminal pathology that impacts management.
The reason why esophagus varices suddenly rupture and start to bleed is unclear. Food intake increase the hepatic blood flow and the portal pressure, but it is yet unknown if there is also an increase in variceal pressure. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a meal on variceal pressure with a non invasive endoscopic measurement device, and compare it with portal pressure.