A STUDY OF PROTHROMBIN TIME AND ACTIVATED PARTIAL THROMBOPLASTIN TIME IN LIVER CIRRHOSIS

Objective: To evaluate the clinical utility of prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) as diagnostic and prognostic indices in liver cirrhosis and to see how these tests assess severity of the disease. Material and Methods: PT and APTT levels of 40 diagnosed liver cirrhosis patients with age between 18-60 years and admitted in Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar were determined and compared with normal controls, to establish it as a marker for diagnosis and prognosis of liver cirrhosis. PT and APTT levels were determined by kit method. Results: Prolongation of PT and APTT was noted in the patients of liver cirrhosis as compared to controls. This was very significant with the progression of the disease as the patients with early and uncomplicated cirrhosis had normal levels, 13 + 1.0 seconds and 30.66 + 2.82 seconds for PT and APTT respectively while those with advanced complicated disease showed abnormally high levels which were 27.05 Conclusion: Prolongation of PT and APTT in advancing liver cirrhosis indicates a damage of liver parenchyma resulting in decreased production of coagulation proteins with increased risk of bleeding tendencies which can be detected before these ensue by the determination of PT and APTT levels. + 4.24 sec and 53.16 + 5.13 sec for PT and APTT respectively, as compared to the control subjects which showed 13.75 + 1.06 sec and 32.62 ± 3.09 sec respectively for PT and APTT.