Macrocytic anemia is associated with the severity of liver impairment in patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis: a retrospective cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Macrocytic anemia is common in liver disease. However, its role in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between macrocytic anemia and the severity of liver impairment in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis according to the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. METHODS: A total of 463 participants who fulfilled our criteria were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Patients were classified into three groups according to anemia types, diagnosed based on their mean corpuscular volume level. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to determine the association between macrocytic anemia and the MELD score for patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis. RESULTS: Patients with macrocytic anemia had evidently higher MELD scores (10.8 ± 6.6) than those with normocytic anemia (8.0 ± 5.5) or microcytic anemia (6.3 ± 5.1). The association remained robust after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, drinking, and total cholesterol (β = 1.94, CI: 0.81–3.07, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Macrocytic anemia was found to be associated with the severity of liver impairment and might be a predictor for short-term mortality in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis.