Influence of meteorological factors on the occurrence of bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus

BACKGROUND: The problem of liver cirrhosis and associated bleedings from the varicose veins of the esophagus, unfortunately, remains highly relevant for Russia. Undoubtedly, it is important to identify factors that provoke an episode of bleeding. From a practical point of view, the most interesting ones are those that have an easily detectable nature and the maximum possible predictability. One of these factors, which is constantly varying throughout the year, is meteorological conditions. AIM: To evaluate the influence of meteorological factors on the occurrence of bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and the possibility of using this information to improve the schemes of primary prevention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The material for the study was the results of examination and treatment of 86 patients hospitalized in 2016–2018 at the Emergency Hospital of Ryazan with a diagnosis of bleeding from esophageal varices. All these patients underwent fibroesophago-gastroduodenoscopy upon admission. The analysis of meteorological observations for 2016–2018 was carried out based on information from archived summaries of weather data. The results obtained were statistically processed using a standard set of programs. RESULTS: When analyzing the number of hospitalizations of patients with bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus in different months of the year, a pronounced unevenness of admissions is revealed, the coefficient of variability is 53.65%. After excluding extreme values from the calculations, it was found that the incidence of the pathology increases in spring and autumn, decreases in summer and winter. The maximum incidence occurs in April and September, and the minimum in July and February. To determine the effect on patients of specific meteorological factors, a meteorological profile for a number of months was created from the archived weather data. In the course of statistical processing of the data, it was found that the only meteorological factor demonstrating a stable strong direct correlation with the number of hospitalizations of patients with bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus (Pearsons correlation coefficient 0.9449) is the average atmospheric pressure gradient. This fact proves the ability of sudden changes in atmospheric pressure to provoke episodes of bleeding from the veins of the esophagus. CONCLUSIONS: When planning a course of primary pharmacological prevention of bleeding emerging the varicose veins of the esophagus, it is necessary to take into account the morbidity peaks occurring in April and September, as well as the ability of sudden changes of the atmospheric pressure to trigger the bleeding episodes.