Prevalence of arterial hypertension in liver cirrhosis and correlation with the severity of liver disease

Abstract

Background and aim: Metabolic diseases and hypertension have increased dramatically in recent years, so the prevalence of hypertension in patients with cirrhosis is expected to increase. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis and to determine its association with the severity of the liver disease. Patients and methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, analytical study conducted at the Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases Department, Tanta University Hospital, Egypt. A total of 2051 patients with liver cirrhosis of various etiology were screened for participation in this study. 2014 patients were enrolled. They underwent blood pressure evaluation, blood tests and abdominal ultrasonography. Patients were classified into hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups. Results: The prevalence of arterial hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis was 30.8%. As regards Child-Pugh class, hypertensive patients in class A were significantly increased (72.9 versus 48.7% respectively) while patients in class B and C were significantly decreased when compared with non- hypertensive patients (25.5,1.6 versus 33.29,17.93% respectively) (P <0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of arterial hypertension in Egyptian cirrhotic patients is 30.7%, lower than that of the general population. Arterial hypertension is inversely associated with the severity of liver disease.