Portal hypertensive gastropathy in patients with cirrhosis

Portal hypertensive gastropathy is a recently recognized important complication of cirrhosis. In the present study, the clinical features, portohepatic hemodynamics, and hepatic function were investigated in a series of 47 patients with cirrhosis. Mild gastropathy was found in 15 patients (32%) and severe gastropathy in 17 patients (36%). The presence of gastropathy seemed to be independent of age, sex, cause of cirrhosis, or grade of gastroesophageal varices. However, severe gastropathy was associated with an increase in portal venous pressure gradient (vs. control, P less than 0.01; vs. mild gastropathy, P less than 0.01), an increase in hepatic sinusoidal resistance (vs. control, P less than 0.01; vs. mild gastropathy, NS), and a decrease in hepatic blood flow (vs. control, P less than 0.01; vs. mild gastropathy, NS). In addition, patients with severe gastropathy had impaired metabolic activity of the liver, which was assessed by intrinsic clearance of indocyanine green (vs. control, P less than 0.01; vs. mild gastropathy, NS). These observations may have important therapeutic implications in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertensive gastropathy.