Study of the risk factors for upper digestive hemorrhage, determined by post-mortem investigations in 39 cases of liver cirrhosis.

: A retrospective study of the causes and the risk factors for upper digestive hemorrhage (UDH) was carried out by post-mortem investigations in 39 consecutive cases of liver cirrhosis (LC), in comparison with a control group of 40 patients with LC, free of UDH. The patients' age and the disease duration in the cases with ruptured esophageal varices or with hemorrhagic erosive gastritis (the main causes of UDH in the group studied) were longer than in the controls. The causes of UDH were: rupture of esophageal varices (in 43.7% of the cases), hemorrhagic erosive gastritis (41%), both (10.2%), and active duodenal ulcer (5.1%). The frequency of small esophageal varices among the ruptured ones (23%) was higher than that detected by endoscopic studies (13-15%), owing to the peculiarities of the group investigated and to the methods of evaluation. Ascites can be considered a risk factor for UDH, as an expression of portal hypertensions. Liver carcinoma, jaundice, prothrombinemia, albuminemia, bilirubinemia and Child index are not risk factors for UDH, some of them reflecting only a longer evolution of the disease.