Diagnostic value of spleen stiffness by magnetic resonance elastography for prediction of esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients

Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic value of spleen stiffness (SS) via magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) in predicting esophageal varices. Methods From January 2016 to September 2018, we retrospectively reviewed 263 patients with esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) records and available spleen and liver stiffness (LS) values from MRE. Clinical information including the underlying diseases, endoscopic grade of esophageal varices (EV) and laboratory data were collected from electronic medical records. Results In cirrhotic patients, MRE-SS was higher in those with EV than in those without. MRE-SS also showed significant association with EV in the multivariate analysis, whereas MRE-LS did not. The diagnostic performance of MRE-SS for EV in cirrhotic patients was demonstrated by the area under curve of 0.853 (cut-off value: 9.53 kPa,P < 0.001), 84.4% sensitivity and 73.7% specificity. Conclusion For prediction of EV in cirrhotic patients, MRE-SS is a useful non-invasive tool and it demonstrates better diagnostic performance than MRE-LS does.

Automated summary

Spleen stiffness (SS) via magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) demonstrates better diagnostic performance in predicting esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients compared to liver stiffness (LS), with a higher sensitivity and specificity.