Abstract:

Abstract Background: The liver plays an important role in thyroid hormone metabolism and action. Liver cirrhosis leads to impairment of liver functions, including thyroid hormone metabolism. Aims and Objectives: To study thyroid dysfunction in patients with liver cirrhosis and its correlation with the severity of liver disease. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six in-hospital patients with liver cirrhosis were studied. Detailed history and physical examination were done as per a pre-fixed proforma. Relevant hematological, biochemical, and radiological investigations were done to assess thyroid function and liver cirrhosis. The severity of liver cirrhosis was judged by the Child Pugh score. Results: The prevalence of hypothyroidism in chronic liver disease was found to be 33.3% (32/96), with 27.1% (26/96) of patients having subclinical hypothyroidism, 3.1% (3/96) for primary hypothyroidism and sick euthyroid each. Most of the participants were in the age group of 41-59 years. Out of them, 78.1% were males, while 21.9% were females. There was a significant correlation between hypothyroidism and the severity of liver disease (p-value 0.001). Sixteen cases of subclinical hypothyroidism belonged to Child Pugh C, while ten belonged to B. No thyroid abnormality was seen in Child Pugh A category. Also, levels of serum albumin and T3 were also showing a statistically negative correlation with the severity of liver disease with p-values of 0.005 and <0.001, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of hypothyroidism in liver cirrhosis was found to be 33.3% with subclinical hypothyroidism being the most common. There was a significant association of hypothyroidism, low serum albumin, and low T3 levels with the severity of liver disease. Therefore, all patients with liver cirrhosis should be evaluated for thyroid function test to prevent the development of overt hypothyroidism and also to use thyroid function tests as a marker of liver disease severity.

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