Antonio Iannetti
University “La Sapienza†Roma - Italia
Title: The management of portal hypertension and esophageal varices
Biography
Biography: Antonio Iannetti
Abstract
The main cause of portal hypertension and of the formation of esophago-gastric varices is cirrhosis of the liver. The prevalence of cirrhosis has been estimated at around 0.15% in the United States, with data that are substantially similar in Europe, with even higher numbers in most African and Asian countries (where chronic viral hepatitis B or C are common). Another cause of portal hypertension is schistosomiasis, affecting 200 million people worldwide. Right heart failure, pericarditis, Budd-Chiari syndrome, inferior caval thrombosis, extra-hepatic tumors (biliary tract, pancreas, stomach, retroperitoneum) cause portal hypertension.
From the point of view of the Endoscopist Gastroenterologist, the main complication of this syndrome is digestive haemorrhage, which is also the main cause of death of the cirrhotic patient and of the patient with portal hypertension.In this presentation, I report the methods to diagnose this disease, with particular reference to the calculation of the risk of bleeding, and the therapeutic techniques of prophylaxis and therapy of the acute event.