Splanchnic vein measurements in patients with liver cirrhosis: a case-control study.

The portal venous system was evaluated by real-time ultrasonography in 100 consecutive cirrhotic patients and 100 pair-matched controls to assess the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound findings in detecting or excluding cirrhosis. The best discriminant findings were the expiration diameters of the superior mesenteric and the splenic vein and, chiefly, their sum corrected by body surface. In cirrhotics the calibers of the splanchnic veins significantly increase in relation to the extent of esophageal varices, but in individual patients this increase cannot predict the extent of varices, which are the main determinant of the bleeding risk.