title: Diagnostic Accuracy of APRI, AAR, FIB-4, FI, and King Scores for Diagnosis of Esophageal Varices in Liver Cirrhosis: A Retrospective Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), aspartate aminotransferase-to-alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), FIB-4, fibrosis index (FI), and King scores might be alternatives to the use of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for the diagnosis of esophageal varices (EVs) in liver cirrhosis. This study aimed to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy in predicting the presence and severity of EVs in liver cirrhosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS All patients who were consecutively admitted to our hospital and underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy between January 2012 and June 2014 were eligible for this retrospective study. Areas under curve (AUCs) were calculated. Subgroup analyses were performed according to the history of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) and splenectomy. RESULTS A total of 650 patients with liver cirrhosis were included, and 81.4% of them had moderate-severe EVs. In the overall analysis, the AUCs of these non-invasive scores for predicting moderate-severe EVs and presence of any EVs were 0.506-0.6 and 0.539-0.612, respectively. In the subgroup analysis of patients without UGIB, their AUCs for predicting moderate-severe varices and presence of any EVs were 0.601-0.664 and 0.596-0.662, respectively. In the subgroup analysis of patients without UGIB or splenectomy, their AUCs for predicting moderate-severe varices and presence of any EVs were 0.627-0.69 and 0.607-0.692, respectively. CONCLUSIONS APRI, AAR, FIB-4, FI, and King scores had modest diagnostic accuracy of EVs in liver cirrhosis. They might not be able to replace the utility of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for the diagnosis of EVs in liver cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Xingshun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Yongguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Study Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area, Shenyang, Liaoning, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Xiaozhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies