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STUDY TO KNOW THE PREVALENCE AND ETIOLOGY OF ESOPHAGEAL VARICES AMONG LIVER CIRRHOSIS PATIENTS

*Dr. Muhammad Said Nawaz, *Dr.Kalsoom Bibi

Objective: To determine the cause and frequency of esophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Location and Duration: In Unit-III of Medicine Department of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore for six months duration from March 2015 to september 2015. Methods: The study included 200 patients with liver cirrhosis. Based on past history, clinical examination and biochemical parameters, patients were classified according to the Child Pugh classification as A, B and C. Each patient was then administered an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for its presence and classification of esophageal varices. Results: Out Of200 patients, 79 (39.5%) were female and 121 (60.5%) were male. The mean age ± standard deviation was 46.79 ± 7.59 years and the mean ± standard deviation time of disease was 31.18 ± 29.72 months. The majority of the patients were 182 (91%) HCV ve+, 10 (5%) HBV +ve, 6 (3%) HCV and HBV co-infections and 2 (1%) alcoholics. In the classification of children, 89 (44.5%) were class A, 71 (35.5%) were class B and 40 (20%) were class C. There were varicose veins in 141 patients in A and varicose veins in 59 patients in B. Of the 141 varicose veins, 30 had small varicose veins, 71 had intermediate varicose veins and 40 had large varicose veins. Conclusion: Hepatitis C is the most common cause of liver cirrhosis. Men are more affected than women. Most of the patients have class A childpugh and most of the patients with liver cirrhosis have middle sized varices. Key words: Hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis, esophageal varices.

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