title: Major predictors of portal hypertensive enteropathy in patients with liver cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Portal hypertensive enteropathy (PHE) is acknowledged as a source of bleeding, and predicting its presence has become more important. We assessed PHE using capsule endoscopy (CE) and investigated factors that may predict its presence, including portosystemic shunts (PSs).
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data from 134 consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis, from February 2009 to September 2013. All patients had undergone dynamic computed tomography and esophagogastroduodenoscopy before CE examination. The frequencies and types of PHE lesions, and the relationships between the presence of PHE and patients' clinical characteristics were evaluated. The distribution of the lesions was also determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PHE was found in 91 (68%), erythema in 70 (52%), erosions in 25 (19%), angioectasia in 24 (18%), villous edema in 18 (13%), and varices in 10 (7%) patients. Most lesions were located in the jejunum. The clinical characteristics associated with the presence of PHE were a Child-Pugh grade of B or C (P = 0.0058), and the presence of PSs (P < 0.0001), ascites (P = 0.0017), portal thrombosis (P = 0.016), esophageal varices (P = 0.0017), and portal hypertensive gastropathy (P = 0.0029). The presence of PSs was an independent predictor of PHE (odds ratio [OR]: 3.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27-7.95). Among the shunt types, left gastric vein (OR: 5.31; 95% CI: 1.97-17.0) and splenorenal shunts (OR: 4.26; 95% CI: 1.29-19.4) were independent predictors of PHE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PSs, especially left gastric vein and splenorenal shunts, appear to reliably predict the presence of PHE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Taiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoyama
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aikata
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Igawa
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naeshiro
authors.forename: Shigeto
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chayama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: capsule endoscopy; liver cirrhosis; portal hypertensive enteropathy; portosystemic shunts