Development of esophageal varices and gastrointestinal bleeding represents a serious consequence in patients with cirrhosis of the liver and portal hypertension. Also, the size of varices tends to increase with the passage of time. It has been estimated that among those with small esophageal varices, nearly 12% progress to large varices annually. It has been shown that the risk of variceal bleeding is related to the size of esophageal varices being more in large varices. There is a need for non-invasive means to diagnose or predict the presence or absence of large esophageal varices. Availability of such methods may help limit the number of endoscopic procedures performed for detection of large esophageal varices