[Protein-calorie malnutrition and degree of hepatic failure in chronic hepatopathy]

Malnutrition is often associated with chronic liver disease, particularly in alcoholics. Its objective assessment by means of methods which are useful and accessible to daily clinical practice is nowadays considered to be necessary for an adequate diagnosis and treatment of these problems, being also a necessary requirement in the selection of the candidates for a liver transplant. Besides, the still insufficiently known relation between nutritional status and the degree of liver dysfunction is of great interest, which has given rise to the present study.

The level of malnutrition and of hepatic function of 48 patients suffering from chronic liver disease hospitalized in Internal Medicine is evaluated, by means of the Ratio of Protein-Caloric Malnutrition proposed by Pomar et al and the Ratio obtained from Clinical and Laboratory data proposed by Orrego et al, respectively.

All the patients showed different levels of malnutrition, 27% of the cases being severe, 69% moderate and the remaining 4% mild. The serum albumin and the response to cutaneous antigens were the most frequently altered tests, while the brachial muscular extent was the less altered parameter. A lineal correlation between the degree of malnutrition and that of liver dysfunction (r = 0.3998, p < 0.01) is also made evident.

Malnutrition is often associated with chronic liver disease, is of mixed characteristics (marasmus and Kwashiorkor disease), and seems to aggravate with the progression of the liver dysfunction.