{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T03:33:38Z","timestamp":1747193618572,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"S. Karger AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]],"date-time":"2023-07-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1689724800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]],"date-time":"2023-07-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1689724800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["GE Port J Gastroenterol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Background and Objectives:&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/b&gt; Endoscopic band ligation (EBL) plays a critical role in patients with clinically significant portal hypertension, as variceal eradication (VE) is essential to prevent further variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (GI). The emergence of COVID-19 has led to a dramatic reduction in endoscopic activity. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on VE, GI, and 6-month mortality of patients treated with prophylactic EBL therapy. In addition, our goal was to identify the risk factors for our proposed outcomes. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/b&gt; A single-center retrospective cohort study included patients with esophageal varices treated with prophylactic EBL therapy between 2017 and 2021. To demonstrate the impact of COVID-19 on two independent groups on prophylactic EBL therapy with 1 year of follow-up, March 2019 was selected as the cut-off date. Clinical, laboratory, and endoscopic data were recovered from electronic reports. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/b&gt; Ninety-seven patients underwent 398 prophylactic EBL sessions, 75 men (77.3%) with mean age 59 \u00b1 12 years. Most achieved VE (60.8%), 14.4% had GI bleeding post-therapy, and 15.5% died at 6 months. The rate of variceal obliteration was significantly lower in the pandemic group (40.9% vs. 77.4% in the pre-pandemic group, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;\/i&gt; = 0.001). Mean number of EBL sessions and pandemic group were independently associated with incomplete VE, while MELD-Na, portal vein thrombosis and failed VE were identified as risk factors associated with mortality at 6 months. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/b&gt; Almost 60% of patients in the pandemic group failed to eradicate esophageal varices. Failure to achieve this result conferred a higher risk of GI bleeding and death at 6 months, the latter also significantly associated with the MELD-Na score and portal vein thrombosis. Our study is among the first to demonstrate the impact of COVID-19 in patients receiving prophylactic EBL therapy. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1159\/000531135","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,20]],"date-time":"2023-07-20T21:04:16Z","timestamp":1689887056000},"page":"182-190","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Influence of COVID-19 on Patients with Esophageal Varices under Prophylactic Endoscopic Band Ligation Therapy"],"prefix":"10.1159","volume":"31","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9778-3686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Craciun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"In\u00eas","family":"Botto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Joao","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Miguel","family":"Moura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Carvalhana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8537-8744","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helena","family":"Cortez-Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rui","family":"Tato Marinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"127","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhep.2018.03.024"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.29267"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.28906"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhepr.2021.100260"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/flgastro-2020-101543"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1237-5221"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2020-322179"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000507896"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12664-019-00938-7"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1478-3231.2011.02681.x"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-230X-10-5"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cld.2010.03.009"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1214-5355"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhepr.2021.100363"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhep.2021.09.003"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/liv.13728"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/MEG.0000000000001522"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/MEG.0000000000001905"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00535-011-0472-0"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17474124.2018.1456918"},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1178-4656"},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1440-1746.2006.04169.x"}],"container-title":["GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/pjg\/article-pdf\/31\/3\/182\/4236231\/000531135.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/pjg\/article-pdf\/31\/3\/182\/4236231\/000531135.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T15:32:00Z","timestamp":1745422320000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/article\/doi\/10.1159\/000531135"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,4]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1159\/000531135","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["2341-4545","2387-1954"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"2341-4545"},{"type":"electronic","value":"2387-1954"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]}}}