Viji Devanand, Anto Nazarene F, Niveditha P, Sathishkumar S
Department of Physiology, Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

• Background: Cirrhosis of liver is characterised by irreversible scarring and fibrosis leading to long term damage of the hepatocytes. The etio-pathogenesis of the hematological abnormalities in cirrhosis is multi-factorial and is associated with increased risk of complications.
• Aim: To evaluate the abnormalities in various hematological indices in patients with cirrhosis of various etiologies and correlate them with the Model for End stage Liver Disease (MELD) score in patients with cirrhosis.
• Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 60 patients with liver cirrhosis. The hematological indices such as hemoglobin, RBC count, PCV, WBC count, DC, platelet count, MCV, MCH, MCHC and RDW were evaluated. The MELD (Model for End stage Liver Disease) score was calculated and correlated with the abnormalities in the hematological indices using Pearson’s Correlation coefficient.
• Results: Among the study population, 53 (88.33%) were males and 7 (11.67%) were females. Alcohol induced decompensation was the commonest cause (63.33%) of cirrhosis followed by Hepatitis B (6.67%). The abnormalities in hematological indices were identified. The mean value of the MELD scores of the study population was 17.11 ± 8.4. There was no significant correlation between the hematological indices and the MELD scores.
• Conclusion: Although abnormalities in hematological indices were identified in the patients with cirrhosis, there was no correlation with the MELD scores. Further studies with larger samples are planned as it could be of some help in preventing complications and could contribute to better prognosis.

Keywords: cirrhosis, hematological indices, liver