Evaluation of liver function and related factors in patients with chronic hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with esophagogastric variceal bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: This study intended to evaluate liver function and related factors in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related cirrhosis complicated with esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EGVB). METHODS: Patients with CHB-related cirrhosis complicated with EGVB were screened from the multicenter database. Patients were divided into Child-Pugh A, B, and C based on Child-Pugh scores. Clinical characteristics and laboratory findings were collected to explore factors affecting good liver function (Child-Pugh A: good liver function; Child-Pugh B or C: poor liver function). RESULTS: A total of 356 eligible patients were included after applying predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria from an initial multicenter cohort, including 62 (17.4%) patients with Child-Pugh A, 233 (65.5%) with Child-Pugh B, and 61 (17.1%) with Child-Pugh C. Aspartate transaminase, creatinine, and viral marker status differed significantly among groups. No difference was found in clinical characteristics or laboratory indexes except for Child-Pugh indexes among patients with Child-Pugh A, B, and C. HBsAg (+), HBeAg (+), and Anti-HBc (+) and creatinine were independently and negatively related to good liver function. CONCLUSION: Patients with CHB-related cirrhosis complicated with EGVB show different degrees of liver dysfunction, and they are suggested to be classified into three subtypes A, B, and C according to Child-Pugh classification. HBsAg (+), HBeAg (+), and Anti-HBc (+) is related to poor liver function, and positive antiviral therapy may be beneficial for the prevention of liver function damage in these patients.