Portal hypertensive enteropathy diagnosed by capsule endoscopy in cirrhotic patients: a nationwide multicenter study.
OBJECTIVE
Due to the limited data on portal hypertensive enteropathy (PHE), the prevalence of and clinical factors related to PHE remain unclear. This study determined the prevalence of PHE using capsule endoscopy (CE) and PHE-related clinical factors.


METHODS
This was a retrospective multicenter study using the Capsule Endoscopy Nationwide Database Registry. From 2,879 cases that underwent CE, 45 cirrhosis patients with portal hypertension (PH) were enrolled and divided into PHE (n = 18) and non-PHE (n = 27) groups. From computed tomography (CT) images, six secondary changes due to PH were scored to give a total CT score of 0-6. The main outcome variable was the prevalence of PHE and PHE-related clinical factors.


RESULTS
The prevalence of PHE was 40 %. Comparing the PHE and non-PHE groups, the most common findings were angiodysplasias in 55.7 % (vs. 7.4 %, p = 0.001) and varices in 38.9 % (vs. 0 %, p = 0.001). Active bleeding was observed in 16.6 and 3.7 %, respectively, but this difference was not significant. In the univariate analysis, Child-Turcotte-Pugh class C (p = 0.002) and a high CT score (≥3 vs. <3, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with PHE. However, only a high CT score was significant in the multivariate analysis (odds ratio 11.19; 95 % confidence interval, 1.59-infinity; p = 0.040).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of PHE was 40 %, and it might be more prevalent in cirrhosis patients with PH who have a high CT score. CE is a useful diagnostic tool for evaluating PHE in cirrhosis patients with PH.
Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, 22 Daesagwan-Gil, Yongsan-Gu, Seoul, 140-743, Korea.
Seong Ran
SR
Jeon
Jin-Oh
JO
Kim
Ji-Beom
JB
Kim
Byong Duk
BD
Ye
Dong Kyung
DK
Chang
Ki-Nam
KN
Shim
Dae Young
DY
Cheung
Jin Soo
JS
Kim
Myung Gyu
MG
Choi
Hyun Joo
HJ
Song
Yun Jeong
YJ
Lim
Soo Jung
SJ
Park
Ji Hyun
JH
Kim
Jeong Seop
JS
Moon
Yoon Tae
YT
Jeen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications*; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome