Portal hypertension and its management in children.

Paediatric Liver, Gastroenterology & Nutrition Centre and MowatLabs, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Archives of disease in childhood. 2018;(2):186-191

Abstract

Portal hypertension (PHT), defined as raised intravascular pressure in the portal system, is a complication of chronic liver disease or liver vascular occlusion. Advances in our ability to diagnose and monitor the condition but also predict the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding have enabled us to optimise the management of children with PHT either at a surveillance or at a postbleeding stage. A consensus among paediatric centres in the classification of varices can be beneficial in streamlining future paediatric studies. New invasive (endoscopic and surgical procedures) and non-invasive (pharmacotherapy) techniques are currently used enabling clinicians to reduce mortality and morbidity in children with PHT.

Methodological quality

Publication Type : Review

Metadata