Changing Trends in the Etiology of Cirrhosis in Türkiye: A Multicenter Nationwide Study

The aim of our study was to investigate the underlying causes behind the etiology of cirrhosis in Türkiye.

The study was comprised of patients with cirrhosis located in the gastroenterology clinics of 28 centers in Türkiye between January 2000 and June 2021.

The study group consisted of 4953 cirrhotic patients (median age: 62.2 years, male / female: 58% / 42%). Among the patients, 39% of the patients were compensated, and 61% were decompensated. Furthermore, 47.5% had Child-Pugh class A, 38% had ChildPugh class B, and 14.5% had Child-Pugh class C. The most frequent complaints were abdominal bloating (28%). Ascites (54.2%) was the most common manifestation of decompensation. The median Child-Pugh and MELD-Na scores were 7.0 and 10.0, respectively. The most common cause of cirrhosis was chronic viral hepatitis (43%), followed by cryptogenic cirrhosis (CC) (19%), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)-related cirrhosis (13%), and alcohol-related cirrhosis (11%). Among the 950 patients with CC, 416 had metabolic abnormalities. If these 416 CC patients with metabolic abnormalities were categorized as having MASLDrelated cirrhosis, the proportion of MASLD-related cirrhosis increased to 21%. Thirteen percent of the patients were diagnosed with HCC, while 4% had extrahepatic malignancy. Female breast cancer (18%) and colorectal cancer (18%) were the most frequent extrahepatic malignancies.

Viral hepatitis remains the main cause of cirrhosis in Türkiye. However, its prevalence seems to be declining, whereas the prevalence of steatotic liver disease-related cirrhosis is increasing.