Platelet count can predict the grade of esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients

<b>Background: </b>Bleeding from esophageal varices is a life threatening complication in cirrhosis. Screening endoscopy is therefore recommended in cirrhotic patients to identify patients at risk of variceal hemorrhage. Screening endoscopy is however an invasive procedure and has limitations. Various clinical and biochemical predictors have been studied to predict the existence and grade of esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients. Thrombocytopenia (platelet count &lt;150,000 /uL) is one of those. Patients with large esophageal varices were found to have a lower platelet count. We conducted this study to determine correlation between platelet count and grades of esophageal varices in our population.<b></b> <b>Materials and Methods:</b> This cross sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, POF Hospital, Wah Cantt from 1^st October, 2017 to 30^th May, 2018. Newly diagnosed cases of cirrhosis having varices of any grade on endoscopy were included in study. Endoscopic findings of patients were standardized by using Paquet grading system. On the basis of platelet count patients were divided into 4 sub groups. All data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 19.0. Platelet count groups were correlated with grading of esophageal varices by using Spearman rank correlations, p value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Chi Square test was used to see association between the platelet count and grade of esophageal varices, p value &lt; or = 0.05 was considered significant. <b>Results: </b>Total 110 patients were included in the study, 55.5% (n=61) were male whereas 44.5% (n=49) were female. Mean Platelet count was 213884.62 /mm³ in patients with grade I varices, whereas it was 119518.52, 58386.49 and 21600.00 in patients with grade II,III and grade IV varices respectively (p value= <b>Conclusion: </b>Platelet count can predict the grade of esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients. There is significant negative correlation between the platelet count and grades of esophageal varices.<b></b>