Noninvasive direct assessment of the left gastric vein using 4D flow MRI for risk stratification of esophageal variceal bleeding

This study focused on the feasibility of 4D flow MRI with low-velocity encoding sensitivity as a non-invasive tool for direct estimation of the left gastric vein and stratification of bleeding risk of esophageal varices. Our study showed that the development of esophageal varices was associated with decreased and increased net flow volumes in the left gastric and azygos veins, respectively. These results suggest the promise of 4D flow MRI with low-velocity encoding sensitivity as a non-invasive and accurate method for stratifying the bleeding risk of esophageal varices.