Assessment of Right Lobe Size/Serum Albumin Ratio as A non-Invasive Marker for Esophageal Varices in HCV Patients

Abstract

gypt has the highest world prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is associated with substantial disease and economic burden (Abdel‐Razek et al., 2019) approximately 71 million people chronically infected worldwide (Botheju et al., 2019). Viral hepatitis was estimated to be the 7th leading cause of mortality globally. About half of this mortality is attributed to hepatitis C virus (HCV), a primary cause for liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and cancer (Kouyoumjian et al., 2018). The major complications of cirrhosis, such as gastroesophageal varices (The incidence of EV in patients with cirrhosis ranges from 35% to 80%) (Fukuiet al., 2016). The most common and lethal complication of cirrhosis is esophageal varices. Esophageal varices are present at diagnosis in approximately 50% of cirrhotic patients, being more common in Child-Pugh class C patients compared to Child-Pugh class-A patients (85% versus 40%) (Pathak et al., 2017). Current guidelines recommend that all cirrhotic patients should undergo screening endoscopy at diagnosis to identify patients with varices at high risk of bleeding who will benefit from primary prophylaxis. This approach places a heavy burden upon endoscopy units and the repeated testing over time may have a detrimental effect on patient compliance (Pathak et al., 2017).