ESOPHAGEAL VARICES;

CORRELATION OF SERUM ALBUMIN LEVEL WITH THE DEGREE OF ESOPHAGEAL VARICES IN PATIENTS OF LIVER CIRRHOSIS DUE TO HEPATITIS B AND C.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the correlation between serum albumin levels and the grades of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B and C. Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Unit I, Department of Medicine, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad from 29th June, 2014 to 28th December, 2014. Methodology: 95 patients of either sex between 20-70 years of age, with the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B and C were selected using non - probability consecutive sampling. The presence of esophageal varices was confirmed by endoscopy. Results: Out of a total of 95 patients, 59 (62.11%) were between the age group of 20-50 years while 36 (37.89%) were between 51-70 years of age. Mean+SD was calculated as 48.37+11.75 years. Gender distribution showed that 51 (53.68%) patients were males and 44 (46.32%) were females. Correlation between serum albumin level and the grade of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B & C showed that out of 26 cases with serum albumin level <2.8, 10 had Grade I and 16 had Grade II while out of 69 cases with ≥2.8 serum albumin level, 40 had grade I and 29 had grade II EV. r value was recorded to be -0.697 whereas p-value was calculated as 0.000. Conclusion: There is a significant negative correlation between serum albumin level and grade of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B and C.