A follow-up study on adult patients with cirrhosis recruited in an open cohort from the hills of Himachal Pradesh

Aim: Cirrhosis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Global burden of diseases study estimated 1 million deaths due to liver cirrhosis in the year 2010 and out of which one-fifth occurred in India alone. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical profile of cirrhosis in adults in a Tertiary Care Hospital in the Northern hilly state of Western Himalayas. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based prospective study was conducted in a Tertiary Care Center of Himachal Pradesh, located in the North of India from June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013. In all 178 patients who were proved of cirrhosis on the basis of history, physical examination, biochemistry, and radiology and of age >18 years were included in the study. All the patients were closely followed for a maximum of 1 year after recruitment. Results: In this study, most of the patients were from age group 40 to 59 years (64.6%), and mean age was 51.2 ± 8.9 years. Most common cause for cirrhosis was alcohol which constituted 62.9% of total cases. Majority of patients (61.8%) presented to our hospital in Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) Class C. Most common complication of cirrhosis at presentation was ascites which was present in 89.8% of the patients. One year mortality in CTP Class B was 23.2% and in CTP Class C was 55.5%. Conclusion: The study identified alcohol as the leading cause of cirrhosis affecting people in the state and most of the patients presented to the hospital in an advanced stage of cirrhosis.