Abnormal Haematological Indices in Cirrhosis in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: The haematological changes are common in cirrhosis of liver the cause of which is multifactorial. It should be correlated by determining the underlying pathology accordingly. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the pattern of change in Haematological indices in Cirrhosis of liver. Methods: This is a cross sectional prospective study conducted on purposely selected (non-probability) hospitalized patients admitted to Medicine, Gastroenterology and hepatology departments of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 100 cases of cirrhosis were selected as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. After selection clinical history, meticulous physical examination and rational investigations were done. Data were collected as per a structured standard questionnaire and checklist. Data analysis was done using statistical software package SPSS 22.0 and was compared with other studies. Results: Anaemia was found in 81 cases out of 100 patients. Anaemia was morphologically normocytic in 46% patients which is the highest number in this study group. It was microcytic in 40% patients and macrocytic in 14%. Regarding Leukocyte count it was normal in 70(70%) patients, Leukopenia in 12(12%) and Leukocytosis in 18(18%) patients. Regarding platelet count it was normal in 46(46%), thrombocytopenia in 51(51%) but thrombocytosis in 3(3%) of cases. The average platelet count in thrombocytopenic patients was 90 X 1091 ± 23 X 109/L. Lastly, pancytopenia was present in 14(14%) patients. Among them, 10 patients (71%) had splenomegaly. Iron Profile was done in all patients of microcytic anaemia and it revealed 68% of them were iron deficiency anaemia. Prothrombin time was done in all patients and it was prolonged in 54 (54%) and its average value was 16.13±.2.9 seconds. Conclusion: Haematological changes are common in cirrhosis of liver, the cause of which is multifactorial. Iron deficiency anaemia is the common type (68%).Prolong prothrombin time (54%) and thrombocytopenia (51%) are the common features.