Accuracy of Fecal Calprotectin for Detecting Esophageal Varices in Egyptian Patients With Liver Cirrhosis

What this Trial Is About

This observational study aims to assess how accurately fecal calprotectin can detect esophageal varices in Egyptian patients with liver cirrhosis. Researchers will compare fecal calprotectin levels among cirrhotic patients with and without esophageal varices, as well as healthy individuals. They will also evaluate several non-invasive scores, including APRI, FIB-4, ALBI, PALBI, and PSR, for predicting the presence and severity of esophageal varices. Participants are divided into three groups: cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices, cirrhotic patients without these varices, and healthy controls. Each participant will undergo clinical assessments including history-taking, physical examination, laboratory tests, fecal calprotectin measurement, abdominal ultrasound, and upper endoscopy. Endoscopic grading of esophageal varices will follow Paquet's classification, and various scoring systems will be calculated to compare their predictive performance against fecal calprotectin. Throughout the study, participants will provide stool samples for fecal calprotectin testing and undergo multiple evaluations such as ultrasound and endoscopy to monitor esophageal varices. Researchers will measure fecal calprotectin levels to predict varices over about one year. The study also compares fecal calprotectin with other scoring methods to determine the best non-invasive approach. Healthy volunteers and cirrhotic patients will be followed during this period to collect data for analysis.

Fecal Calprotectin for Prediction of Esophageal Varices in Cirrhotic Patients