Area Editoriale
Thepossibility of identifying cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices bynoninvasive means is attractive, because it would allow for the restriction ofthe performance of screening endoscopy to patients at high risk of havingvarices. Over the years, several studies addressing this issue have beenperformed with little success. The recently proposed platelet count/spleendiameter ratio appears to be the best noninvasive predictor of esophagealvarices developed so far. However, the available evidence is not yet sufficientto allow for the modification of the current policy of screening cirrhoticpatients by endoscopy at the time of diagnosis to detect varices. Leggil'articolo