Abstract

Background: Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is known but under detected complication of cirrhosis of liver. Patients with stable liver disease are more prone to internal bleeding due to portal hypertension. Thrombocytopenia is a common complication associated with chronic liver disease and it is associated with poor prognosis.
Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the association between correlation between severity of thrombocytopenia and portal hypertensive gastropathy in patients with chronic liver disease.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in a tertiary care centre at Saveetha Medical College Hospital and Research Centre. A total of 80 consecutive subjects were included in this study. All adult patients admitted with diagnosis chronic liver disease underwent upper GI endoscopy; those with portal hypertensive gastropathy(PHG) were included. Platelet count was estimated and severity of gastropathy was classified. Correlation of thrombocytopenia and severity of gastropathy was studied. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. Statistical analysis was done by t test and chi-square test.
Results: Patients withmild PHG category had normal platelet count between 1.5-4.5 lakhs/mm3. But in patients with severe PHG, almost 80% of patients had thrombocytopenia, in which 8% had severe thrombocytopenia <50,000 cells/mm3. The inverse relationship between the platelet count and the severity of PHG was statistically significant.
Conclusion: The severity of thrombocytopenia increased with the increasing grade of portal hypertensive gastropathy. Hence platelet count can serve as the prognostic marker of chronic liver disease induced portal hypertensive gastropathy.