Abstract

Usama Riaz, Amna Tariq, Uzma Yasmeen, Hafiza Sobia Ramzan

Liver diseases, especially liver cirrhosis, are common in Pakistan due to the high prevalence of chronic viral hepatitis. Objectives: The basic aim of the study is to analyse the correlation between AST platelet ratio and severity of oesophageal varices in hepatitis B induced cirrhosis. Setting: This cross sectional study was conducted in National Hospital Defence, Lahore during January 2019 to August 2019. Material and methods: This study includes the patient who visited the OPD of the hospital regularly. All patients met the diagnostic criteria for cirrhosis for chronic hepatitis B prevention and treatment was included in this study. We recorded the age of the patients and the levels of AST, ALT, albumin, and PLT in peripheral blood. In addition, patients were divided into slight, moderate, and severe groups according to the morphology of oesophageal varices (EV) and the severity of haemorrhage under gastroscopy. Results: The data were collected from 150 patients of both genders. There were 44 cirrhosis patients without oesophageal varices (nonoesophageal varices group), 43 with mild oesophageal varices (mild group), 31 with moderate oesophageal varices (moderate group), and 32 patients with severe oesophageal varices (severe group). There was no significant difference in age or gender between patients in each group (all p>0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that HBV infection is the leading aetiological factor underlying cirrhosis. Presentation for screening upper endoscopy is often late and with severe liver disease. Majority of cirrhotics have varices at endoscopy and with most being large varices.