Relationship between alcohol etiology of liver cirrhosis and high Child–Pugh score at its diagnosis
General Medicine, 2024, 26(3), 9-15.
M. Mihaylova1, P. Tonchev2, M. Vlahova3
1 Clinic of Gastroenterology, UMHAT „Georgi Stranski“, Department of Gastroenterology Nephrology and Hematology, MU – Pleven
2 Department of Surgical Nursing, Medical College – Pleven
3 Department of Therapeutic Nursing, Medical College – Pleven
Abstract. Incidence of liver cirrhosis causes a significant increase in global mortality and an increasing incidence of alcohol-related diseases. Aim: To establish the relationship between alcohol as a leading etiologic factor and high Child-Pugh score in newly diagnosed cases with liver cirrhosis. Materials and methods: Retrospective study of 361 newly diagnosed cases with liver cirrhosis treated at the Gastroenterology Clinic of UMHAT Pleven EAD in the period 2017-2021 was performed. A documentary method was used for its implementation. The necessary information was collected from the patient hospital records upon the first patient hospitalization. All patients, of whom 258 (71%) were men and 103 (29%) were women, were over the age of 18 years. The average age of the studied group was 57.8 years. ± 11.4 years. In 244 (67.5%) of them, the main etiological factor was purely alcohol etiology. The analysis of the results was done by Cross tabulation and Chi-square test. The obtained results were processed with IBM SPSS 26 and Excel statistics. A value of p < 0.05 was accepted as a level of significance. Results: The distribution of cases by Child shows that 98 (27%) were in Child A, 141 (39%) were in Child B, and 122 (34%) were in Child C. 101 (41.4%) of them were with purely alcohol etiology at 244 (67.5%) in Child C. The total share of decompensated cases in Child B and C in cases with alcohol alone or in combination with Hepatitis B or S in 262 (72.6%) persons reaches 81.3%, compared to all other etiologies, where the same is 50.5%. The obtained result confirms a significant relationship between a high Child–Pugh score and alcohol etiology (p = 0.000). Of all the 122 individuals in Child C, 106 (86.9%) of them have an alcoholic etiology alone or in combination. A comparison between purely viral and alcohol-combined etiologies found that “pure” cases were largely compensated unlike the combined cases, which were mostly decompensated, with no cases in Child A identified. Conclusion: A high Child– Pugh score in liver cirrhosis is associated with the leading alcoholic etiology and its late diagnosis.
Key words: liver cirrhosis, alcohol, Child–Pugh score, late diagnosis
Address for correspondence: M. Mihaylova, e-mail: mihailova75.md@gmail.com