Journal of Applied Medical Sciences

Complications and prognosis of cirrhotic patients at the Douala General Hospital in Cameroon

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• Abstract

  Introduction: In African countries, cirrhosis is associated with an increasingly growing death rate especially with the Hepatitis B virus infection. The purpose of this study was to determine the complications and assess the prognosis of decompensated cirrhotic patients under care at the Douala General Hospital (HGD). Patients and method: This was a cross-sectional and analytical study which was carried out over a period from 31 December 2005 to 30 April 2015 and included any cirrhotic patients hospitalised and/or treated as outpatients at the Douala General Hospital (HGD). Parameters were gathered according to a data sheet. Results: In all, 218 cirrhotic patients were enrolled out of which 101 with decompensated cirrhosis. Their average age was 54.36. Ascites was the first mode of decompensation with 90.82% (n=89). Portal hypertension was the main complication of liver cirrhosis with 61.50% (n=62) followed by hepatic encephalopathy with 41.58% (n=42). The death rate was 26.73% in patients with decompensated cirrhosis, with a meaningful difference in comparison to patients with compensated cirrhosis. Conclusion: Ascites was the most frequent mode of cirrhosis decompensation in our context. Portal hypertension was the main complication in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Mortality was significantly higher in patients with decompensated cirrhosis than in those with compensated cirrhosis (p<0.001).