Liver stiffness and liver function index in liver fibrosis patients afflicted with electrocardiographic abnormalities

Abstract

Introduction: Heart disorders are one of the causes of death in cirrhotic patients. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate liver stiffness and liver function indices in liver fibrosis patients afflicted with electrocardiographic abnormalities. Patients and Methods: Two hundred patients entered this cross-sectional study. First, all of the patients underwent liver elastography. They were then divided into four groups based on the results obtained. Patients in three of the total groups (I–III) had fibrosis and those in the fourth group (IV) had cirrhosis. Afterward, electrocardiograms were taken from the patients, and based on the existence of electrocardiographic abnormalities, the patients were divided into two groups (group 1, consisting of liver fibrosis patients with a heart disease and group 2, consisting of those without a heart disease). Finally, liver function index, liver stiffness, frequency of variables, and their relationship with the presence or absence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities were analyzed. Results: Forty-eight percent of the patients were afflicted with ECG abnormalities. The majority of the patients in each of the two groups were male. The differences between patients with and without electrocardiographic abnormalities as regards to liver stiffness, liver function index, and platelet count were found to be statistically significant (P 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that liver stiffness and liver function index are non-invasive factors for predicting the presence of accompanying heart disorders in patients suffering from liver fibrosis.

Keywords

• elastography
• electrocardiography abnormality
• liver fibrosis
• liver function index
• liver stiffness