Correlation Of Anemia with Severity of Liver Cirrhosis as Assessed by Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score

Background: Anemia is common in liver cirrhosis, yet its relationship with disease severity remains incompletely understood.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between anemia and liver cirrhosis severity as assessed by the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score.

Methods: This prospective observational study included 60 cirrhotic patients with anemia. Demographic data, clinical features, hematological parameters, and liver function tests were analyzed. The MELD score was calculated to assess liver disease severity.

Result: A significant negative correlation was found between hemoglobin and MELD score (r=-0.481, p=0.001). Severe anemia was significantly more prevalent in patients with high MELD scores (50.00%) compared to moderate (12.90%) and low (0.00%) MELD scores (p=0.001). Mean hemoglobin levels decreased significantly with increasing MELD scores: 10.76 ± 0.78 g/dL in low MELD, 9.41 ± 1.33 g/dL in moderate MELD (p=0.029), and 8.17 ± 1.96 g/dL in high MELD (p=0.001). Multivariate analysis identified MELD score >19 as the only independent predictor of severe anemia (OR=3.86, 95% CI 1.18-12.64, p=0.025).

Conclusion: Anemia severity correlates significantly with liver cirrhosis severity as measured by the MELD score. This relationship is independent of clinical features, portal hypertension manifestations, or cirrhosis etiology, highlighting the multifactorial nature of anemia in liver cirrhosis