Pericardial Effusion in Hospitalized HCV Positive Non Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis Patients Suffering of Ascites with Normal Serum Creatinine

Background: Few studies reported the presence of pericardial effusion (PEF) in alcoholic liver cirrhosis (LC) patients suffering of ascites, but none explored its presence in Hepatitis C virus positive (HCV +ve) non-alcoholic LC patients. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of PEF among HCV +ve non alcoholic LC patients suffering of ascites.Methods: 38 HCV +ve non alcoholic hospitalized LC patients suffering of ascites underwent trans-thoracic echocardiographic (TTE) assessment for the presence of PEF and its extent. Those with history of consuming alcohol, uremia, hypothyroidism, collagen diseases, cardiac disease or previous cardiac surgery were excluded . Those with a poor pericardial window were also excluded from the study.Results: TTE showed that 9 out of 38 HCV +ve non alcoholic LC patients suffering of ascites suffer of PEF. Eight out of the nine patients suffered of mild PEF, and one of them suffered of moderate pericardial effusion. All PEFs were global and none of them showed evidence of tamponade. Seven PEF patients had a Child Pugh (CP)score C and two had a (CP) score B.Conclusions: Nearly 24% of a sample of hospitalized Hepatitis C +ve non alcoholic LC patients showed PEF on TTE assessment. Most PEFs were mild and generalized, most belonged to CP score C and none was localized or tamponading.