Hemodynamic analysis of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of duplex Doppler ultrasound in portal vein and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the assessment of signs of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis. Patients and methods This study included 50 patients and 20 apparently healthy individuals as controls. All of them were subjected to a thorough assessment of history, complete clinical examination, and some important laboratory investigations. Also, color duplex Doppler ultrasound was performed for all the participants and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy only for the patients. Results We found that portal vein diameter, congestion index, arterial pulsatility index, and arterial resistive index were significantly higher in the patients than in the controls, whereas portal vein flow velocity and the liver vascular index were significantly lower in the patients than in the controls. Conclusion Duplex Doppler ultrasonography remains the first step in the evaluation of patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. The best hemodynamic parameter in the assessment of portal hypertension is the congestion index, whereas arterial indices are less prone to variability and are more reproducible compared with venous indices. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is the gold standard in the treatment of esophageal varices and also effective in preventing recurrent variceal bleeding.