CLINICAL PROFILE AND EVALUATION OF SERUM PROLACTIN LEVEL IN CIRRHOSIS OF LIVER WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CHILD PUGH SCORE

Clinical profile and evaluation of serum prolactin level in cirrhosis of liver with special reference to Child Pugh Score. Abstract Background: With the increasing incidence of liver cirrhosis the use of a biomarker such as prolactin, indicates the severity of the disease, its complications and serves as a tool for early intervention. Aim: To study the clinical profile and evaluation of serum Prolactin level in Cirrhosis of Liver with special reference to Child Pugh Score. Materials and Methods: A observational cross sectional study on 70 patients admitted under Department of Medicine, JMCH from July 2020 to June 2021. All the patients are subjected to the routine work up for chronic liver disease including serum prolactin level. Results: A total of 70 Patients analyzed in the study. The mean age is found to be 47 years with SD ±13 years, the male and female ratio is 4:1 with mean prolactin levels among the males, it is 36.9 ng/dl with SD ±15.3 ng/dl and in females it is 42.8 ng/dl with SD ±14.2 ng/dl . Of the 70 patients in this study, 59 (84.3%) of them had serum prolactin levels elevated above 19 ng/ml with various clinical profiles . The various clinical presentations noted in our study included ascites in 69 (98.5%) patients, portal hypertension in 63( 90 %) of the patients , oesophageal varices in 44 (62.85%) with upper GI bleed in 31 (44.3%) patients, hepatic encephalopathy (grades 1-4) in 50 (71.42%) patients. Out of 70 patients 55(78.5%) were of class C in child pugh score and the mean prolactin level is found to be 43.638 ng/ml while normal serum prolactin levels is seen in all patients with Class A of Child Pugh Class with p value < 0.001 . The Spearmen coefficient value i.e. the r-value was 0.830 which is a strong positive correlation between the child pugh scoring system and serum prolactin level. Conclusion: Serum prolactin level correlated with the Child Pugh score in predicting the severity of the disease. Patients with a higher serum prolactin have a greater incidence of complications of cirrhosis like PHTN, HE and Esophageal varices.