Prediction of Oesophageal Varices in Cirrhotic Patients by Serum- Ascites Albumin Gradient

Background and aim of the work: Portal hypertension (PHT) and the eventual Oesophageal varices (OV) is one of the awful complications of liver cirrhosis. Bleeding from OV is a real leading cause of death. This study aims at evaluating serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) as a predictor of OV. Patients and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 males and 26 females where they were divided into two main groups and sub groups according to the presence and size of OV. All participants were subjected to full history taking, thorough clinical examination, laboratory investigations, liver function tests, complete blood count, kidney function tests, hepatitis markers: HCV-Ab (anti hepatitis c virus antibody) hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs-Ag), abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal diagnostic paracentesis with calculation of SAAG. Results: there is highly significant increased SAAG in cirrhotic patients with OV than those without. Moreover, SAAG increases significantly with the grade of O.V. Conclusion: Serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) could be used as a non-invasive predictor for the presence of O.V in cirrhotic patients with ascites. Moreover, SAAG value increased significantly with the progression of O.V.