The Journal of the Association of Physicians of Tamil Nadu Issue 1



Platelets in Chronic Liver Disease: Beyond Number

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Unlock Image Year 2021, Issue 1 April 2021 Pages 1-8
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The journal is published as a quarterly issue.
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AUTHORS

Dr. Purushothaman Padmanabhan1 Dr. Nagendram Dinakaran1 Dr. Vamsi Chaitanya Gude1 Dr. Syed Mohammed Akbar Hassan1 Dr. Ravi Rajan1

1 –  Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu

HISTORY

Available Online: April 2021

ABSTRACT

Objectives:Thrombocytopenia, a complication of Chronic Liver Disease (CLD), is considered to be a marker of advanced disease and an independent predictor of mortality. But this is disputable, and hence is this study
  1. To find out the prevalence of thrombocytopenia in CLD;
  2. To find out association with severity of Liver disease and Thrombocytopenia.
Materials and Methods:This was a descriptive study analyzing CLD patients diagnosed by clinical, biochemical, serological, and radiological evaluation in our institution between March 2019 and December 2020.Results:There were 48 patients; M: F43:5; mean age 51.7±12.4 years; Thrombocytopenia: Mild (149999 – 75000/mm3) in 45.8%, moderate (74999 – 50000/mm3) in 12.5% and severe (< 49999/mm3) in 8.3%. There was no association of thrombocytopenia with severity indices like Child-Pugh Class (C. P. C.) and Model for End-stage Liver Disease – Sodium (MELD-Na) Score.Conclusion:The prevalence of thrombocytopenia in CLD is 66.6% in this study. Thrombocytopenia is not associated with the severity of the disease. This necessitates larger studies and analyzing the factors other than a number of platelets. This includes
  1. Functional status of platelets (thrombocythemia)
  2. In a stable CLD, homeostasis and coagulation pathways achieve a delicate “rebalance state” (new normal) which may be disturbed even by trivial insult.
  3. Platelets also secrete platelet-derived growth factors, transforming growth factor β, hepatocyte growth factor, which can influence liver fibrosis and regeneration.

KEYWORDS

thrombocytopenia, chronic liver disease, portal hypertension, homeostasis, coagulation.

OPEN ACCESS

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

COPYRIGHT

© 2021 Dr. Vijay Viswanathan, published by Association of Physicians of India-Tamilnadu State Chapter


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