Schistosoma mansoni-related periportal fibrosis; can we use APRI and PSDR levels in the real-time selection of patients for targeted endoscopy in a resource-limited setting? A case-control study.

This study indicates that varices are a common encounter among patients with S. mansoni related periportal fibrosis and it is independently associated with higher APRI and lower PSDR levels suggesting that these tools are potential discriminators of varices in this subgroup of patients. The reproducibility of these results should further be assessed longitudinally as potential non-invasive tools in selecting patients at high risk of having esophageal varices who could benefit from the targeted endoscopic intervention in a resource-limited setting like ours.