Coronary artery disease in patients with liver cirrhosis

Background The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) has been reported to be low in patients with liver cirrhosis. Previous studies have, however, included mostly patients with cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. We aimed to determine the prevalence and predictive factors of CAD in a cohort of consecutive patients with cirrhosis of various etiologies compared to the general population. Methods A total of 127 patients with cirrhosis were evaluated for a history of CAD and cardiovascular risk factors. Arterial blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and serum cholesterol were measured. Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometry and estimation of recent weight change. A group of 203 subjects from the general population with similar age and gender distribution, as well as smoking habits as the cirrhotic patients, served as controls. Results CAD was more common in cirrhotics compared to controls (20% vs. 12%, P = 0.001). Compared to controls, cirrhotics had lower mean arterial blood pressure and serum cholesterol and a higher prevalence of diabetes, but did not differ significantly in the prevalence of hypertension or family history for CAD. In regression analysis, CAD was independently related to diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 5.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.44-12.28), but not to liver cirrhosis. In the cirrhosis group, only alcoholic cirrhosis (OR 9.50, 95% CI 1.08-83.4) and age (OR 1.23 per year, 95% CI 1.06-1.43) were independently related to CAD. Conclusions Liver cirrhosis, per se, does not seem to confer a protective effect against CAD. In cirrhotics, older age and alcoholic etiology were independently related to CAD.