Abstract: Objective This study was conducted to explore the evaluation of esophageal varices (EV) by semi quantitative ultrasound scoring (SQUS) and elastography in patients with hepatitis B viral infection-induced liver cirrhosis (LC). Methods 116 patients with hepatitis B-induced LC were encountered in our hospital between April 2020 and April 2023, and all patients underwent esophagogastroscopy as the gold standard for the diagnosis of EV. Simultaneously, the SQUS was evaluated by ultrasonography, and the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) was detected by transient elastography. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis was applied to reveal the risk factors and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was applied to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Results Out of our series, the esophagogastroscopy found patients with EV in 72 cases (62.1%), including mild EV in 30 cases (41.7%), moderate in 24 cases (33.3%) and severe in 18 cases (25.0%); the SQUS in 42 patients with moderate/severe EV was (13.2±1.6), much higher than [(11.7±1.3), P＜0.05] in patients with mild EV or [(10.4±1.2), P＜0.05] in individuals without EV; the LSM in patients with moderate/severe EV was (23.9±4.2)kPa, significantly greater than [(18.1±3.7)kPa, P＜0.05] in patients with mild EV or [(13.6±2.1)kPa, P＜0.05] in individuals without EV; the Logistic regression analysis showed that the SQUS and LSM were both the independent risk factors for the occurrence of moderate/severe EV (P＜0.05); the ROC analysis demonstrated the sensitivity and specificity were 78.6% and 83.8%, respectively, when the SQUS and LSM was combined in predicting the moderate/severe EV, much superior to any parameter did alone(P＜0.05). Conclusion The diagnostic efficacy of SQUS and LSM combination in predicting the severity of EV in patients with LC is promising, and warrants further clinical investigation.

Key words: Liver cirrhosis, Esophageal varices, Semi quantitative ultrasound scoring, Liver stiffness measurement, Diagnosis