ResearcherID - CLICK HERE Scientific Journal Impact Factor (SJIF-2020) - CLICK HERE

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION AND HIGH LEVELS OF CIRCULATING N-TERMINAL PRO-BRAIN NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE

Dr Syed Kumail Kazmi, Dr Tahir Iqbal, Dr Wajid Hussain, Dr Atif Abbas, Dr Asma Ambreen, Dr. Qurat ul Ain Naib

Liver Cirrhosis is the commonest cause of hospitalization and death in the world. It is one of the commonest causes of mortality and morbidity in Pakistan mainly due to hepatitis C infection. HCV causes cardiomyopathy which results in poor contraction and relaxation of the heart that results in cardiac dysfunction and cardiac failure. Material and Methods: Study Design: Case control study. Place of Study: Out-patient department and Medical wards of Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) Rawalpindi, which is a tertiary care hospital. Duration: This study was conducted from for a period of 06 months, from 1st January 2016 till 30th June 2016. Results: Total 80 patients were included according to the inclusion criteria of the study. Mean age (years) in the study was years. There were 32 (40%) male and 48 (60%) female patients who were included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. Out of 80 patients, there were 24(32%) patients who have prolonged positive NT-proBNP value. The frequency of NT-proBNP in patients in chronic hepatitis C infective and non-infective was 19(47.5%) and 5 (12.5%) respectively. The P-value was 0.001 which means that the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Conclusion: My study revealed that high level of NT-proBNP was found to be associated with chronic HCV infection, which indicates that HCV infection induces myocardial dysfunction, such as myocarditis, in asymptomatic patients with chronic HCV infection. In view of above further similar studies are recommended in our population to establish this fact. Keywords: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), NT-proBNP, Myocarditis, Cardiac dysfunction

FULL TEXT