[Endoscopic evaluation of esophageal varices. Comparison of a classic method and the metric system]

The authors compare 2 endoscopic systems of classification of esophageal varices size, one metric system and the classification by degrees, evaluated simultaneously in 70 endoscopic examinations of 53 patients with portal hypertension. They show that the classification by degrees is inadequate, especially in serial evaluation, for its inherent subjectivity, even when executed by one sole examiner. The metric system, under these circumstances, is less liable to change under the subjective influences and gives more exact reproductions, thus being recommended by the authors.