Thrombocytopenia in newly diagnosed cases of liver cirrhosis

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of thrombocytopenia in cases with liver cirrhosis and its relationship with the severity of the disease. A retrospective study of cases with liver cirrhosis was conducted out from 2017 to 2021. The information was collected from the patient’s hospital records at their first admission. The study group included 361 individuals over the age of 18 - 258 (71%) men and 103 (29%) women. A platelet count below 150 G/L was considered an indicator of thrombocytopenia. Results were analized using IBM SPSS 26 and Eхcеl statistics. Results: Thrombocytopenia was found in 171 (47.4%) subjects. In 45 (26%) cases, accounting for 12.46% of the studied population with cirrhosis, thrombocytopenia was not accompanied by hematological abnormalities. There was no statistical relationship between the Child-Pough stage and the presence of thrombocytopenia (p = .400) and no statistically significant differences in platelet counts among the three Child-Pough stages (p = .205). The thrombocytopenia cases had a higher MELD Na than those without, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = .002). Of the thrombocytopenia cases, 73.7% had oesophageal varices (p = 0.000). A cut-off value of 181G/L with 73% sensitivity and 54.5% specificity for predicting the occurrence of varices was established. There was no statistical association between thrombocytopenia and portosystemic encephalopathy (PSE); (p = .591). Thrombocytopenia is an important laboratory finding in the progression of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. An isolated finding also requires ruling out chronic liver disease and endoscopic examination to exclude oesophageal varices.