Oesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis attending a major tertiary hospital in Ghana

dc.contributor.authorDuah, A.
dc.contributor.authorNkrumah, K.N.
dc.contributor.authorTachi, K.
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-22T10:20:40Z
dc.date.available2019-07-22T10:20:40Z
dc.date.issued2018-12
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: oesophageal variceal bleeding is a potentially fatal consequence of portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients. In Ghana, bleeding oesophageal varices (OV) are a significant cause of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding with comparatively high mortality. This study was to determine the prevalence of OV and its clinical correlate in cirrhotic patients. Methods: this was a cross sectional hospital based study of 149 subjects with liver cirrhosis from 5th November, 2015 to 4th November, 2016. Demographic and other clinical data were collected using standardized questionnaire. Liver function, full blood count, HBsAg and anti-HCV Ab tests were done for all patients. All patients underwent an abdominal ultrasound to assess liver and document ascites. Upper GI endoscopy (UGIE) was done to screen for and grade varices. Results: a total of 149 patients with a mean age of 45 ± 12.28 years were evaluated. Men were 77.85% and 22.15% were women, with male to female ratio of 3.5:1. By Child-Pugh Classification, 12 (8.16%) patients were in class A, 64 (43.54%) in class B and 71 (48.3%) in class C at presentation. On UGIE, 135 (90.60%) had varices and 14 patients (9.40%) had no varices. One hundred and eleven of the varices (82.22%) were large varices and the rest (17.78%) small varices. Conclusion: majority of cirrhotic patients present late with advance disease to this referral centre. Most have large varices on their first screening endoscopy. Prophylactic treatment should be considered for all cirrhotics especially patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis when UGIE cannot be done immediately.en_US
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.11604/pamj.2018.31.230.16657
dc.identifier.urihttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/31594
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherPan African Medical Journalen_US
dc.subjectPrevalenceen_US
dc.subjectOesophageal varicesen_US
dc.subjectLiver cirrhosisen_US
dc.subjectGhanaen_US
dc.titleOesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis attending a major tertiary hospital in Ghanaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.6 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: