Cardiac Profile of Filipino Patients With Liver Cirrhosis: A 10-Year Study

BACKGROUND: Cardiac complications among patients with liver cirrhosis have not yet been described among Filipinos. Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a rarely described complication that has not been extensively described in literature. This is the first study to describe the electrocardiographic and echocardiographic findings of Filipino patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: A retrospective analytical study of 148 patients with liver cirrhosis from 2007 to 2016 at the Philippine Heart Center was done. The clinical characteristics, median QTc interval, systolic and diastolic functions on echocardiography of these patients were described. Spearman rho correlation was employed to determine the rank order correlation between QTc prolongation and the severity of liver cirrhosis. Fisher's Exact test was used to test the association of the echocardiographic parameters with the severity of liver cirrhosis. RESULTS: The 10-year prevalence rate of liver cirrhosis at the Philippine Heart Center was 0.001% (148/137,584). The mean age was 72.4 ± 14 years with a female/male ratio of 1.1:1. The most common etiology of cirrhosis was hepatitis B or C infection (20%, 29). The Child-Pugh Classification (CPC) and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score were used to determine the severity of liver cirrhosis and to assess their prognosis. There were 31 patients (24%) with CPC-A, 84 patients (64%) with CPC-B and 15 patients (11%) with CPC-C. Fifty-five percent (n = 69) had a MELD score of 16 and below. Prolongation of the QTc interval was only seen among those with CPC A (median QTc of 470 ms) and a MELD score of 9 and below (median QTc of 485 ms). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 54.40±28.63%. There were five patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction of < 55%. The mean cardiac output (6.04 ± 5.24 L/min/m(2)) and cardiac index (2.92 ± 1.47 L/min/m(2)) were normal. There were 44 patients who had evidence of diastolic dysfunction based on an E/A ratio < 1, prolongation of isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) of > 80 ms and prolongation of deceleration time (DT) of > 200 ms. There were only five patients who fulfilled the criteria for cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. A majority of the patients were discharged improved (82%). There were 26 cases who expired (18%). CONCLUSION: A higher mean age of Filipinos with liver cirrhosis was reported in our study. Prolongation of the QTc interval was seen among those with early and late stage of cirrhosis (CPC A or MELD score ≤ 9 and CPC C). Most of these patients had normal left ventricular systolic function precluding the presence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy.