Vitamin D deficiency is associated with mortality in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis

Chronic liver disease is the fifth most common cause of mortality in Europe. Recently, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of mortality in the general population. As patients with advanced liver disease frequently exhibit vitamin D deficiency, we assessed for a possible association of vitamin D deficiency with survival in a cohort of patients with advanced liver disease.

Sixty-five patients with liver cirrhosis (median age, 58 years; range, 19-76 years; 66% male; Child-Pugh stage C, 46%) were included in our prospective single-centre survival study. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. The optimal cut-off was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Chi-square statistics and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were also conducted.

Median serum vitamin D levels were 8·2 ng/mL (range <4·0-95·8 ng/mL). Overall, 48% of patients (31/65) died during a 24-month follow-up period. ROC analysis determined a vitamin D level of 6·0 ng/mL as optimal cut-off for discriminating survivors from nonsurvivors. Kaplan-Meier analysis of survival confirmed low vitamin D levels as significant predictor of death (P = 0·012). Finally, multivariate analysis identified low vitamin D levels (OR = 6·3; 95% CI, 1·2-31·2; P = 0·012) and MELD scores (OR = 1·4; 95% CI, 1·2-1·7; P < 0·001) as independent predictors of survival.

Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased mortality in patients with advanced liver disease. Thus, serum levels of vitamin D might represent a critical marker of survival in advanced liver cirrhosis.