Abstract
BackgroundMacrocytic anemia is common in liver disease. However, its role in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between macrocytic anemia and the severity of liver impairment in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis according to the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score.MethodsA total of 463 participants who fulfilled our criteria were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Patients were classified into three groups according to anemia types, diagnosed based on their mean corpuscular volume level. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to determine the association between macrocytic anemia and the MELD score for patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis.ResultsPatients with macrocytic anemia had evidently higher MELD scores (10.8 ± 6.6) than those with normocytic anemia (8.0 ± 5.5) or microcytic anemia (6.3 ± 5.1). The association remained robust after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, drinking, and total cholesterol (β = 1.94, CI: 0.81–3.07, P < 0.001).ConclusionsMacrocytic anemia was found to be associated with the severity of liver impairment and might be a predictor for short-term mortality in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis.
Highlights
Macrocytic anemia is common in liver disease
The goal of the present study is to investigate whether the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is higher in the macrocytic anemia group in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis
Our data showed that patients with macrocytic anemia were older and had higher levels of bilirubin, international normalized ratio (INR) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) compared to patients with normocytic or microcytic anemia
Summary
Macrocytic anemia is common in liver disease. Its role in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between macrocytic anemia and the severity of liver impairment in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis according to the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. Cirrhosis is an end-stage disease that invariably leads to death. It is the 14th most common cause of death in adults worldwide and results in 1.03 million deaths per year [1]. A recent study has reported that the elevated MCV level was associated with increased liver cancer mortality, especially in men who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
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