ArticleJournal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition2026
Splenic stiffness does not predict esophageal varices in children with portal hypertension.
Article in Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Splenic stiffness does not predict esophageal varices in children with portal hypertension.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate ultrasound parameters, particularly splenic stiffness, as predictors of pediatric esophageal varices.
methodsWe included all children aged 0-19 years who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, for variceal screening or surveillance, and abdominopelvic ultrasound with splenic elastography measurement. We also recorded biological parameters (platelets count, albumin) to determine a clinical prediction rule (CPR). Derivation and validation cohorts were defined according to measurement date. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) statistics and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for the optimal threshold value were calculated, and used to assess the performance of each parameter.
resultsEighty derivation cohort children and 58 validation cohort children formed the study sample. Cohort characteristics did not differ for age, sex, distribution of varices but differ for some etiologies, abdominal surgery, spleen size, splenic stiffness measurement (SSM), ascites, and the presence of spontaneous portosystemic shunts. In the derivation cohort, splenic stiffness was the best independent predictor of esophageal varices, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.83, a sensitivity of 0.90, and specificity of 0.73 at a threshold of 22 kPa. In the validation cohort, SSM was no longer significantly associated with esophageal varices at endoscopy, had a lower sensitivity of 0.26, and no other threshold could be found. Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and CPR had a correct predictive value (AUC 0.70 for LSM; 0.78 for CPR in the derivation cohort and 0.64 for LSM; 0.71 for CPR in the validation cohort) for esophageal varices.
conclusionsSSM cannot be used as a single parameter to predict esophageal varices. LSM and CPR despite their lower AUC appear to much more robust measures with consistent results across cohorts.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.