[Corelations between thrombocyte count, clinical diagnosis, and liver pathology in chronic liver diseases]

In 1488 cases of chronic liver disease thrombocyte content of peripheral blood, clinical diagnosis and histologic findings of the liver biopsy were correlated. Ranging from fatty infiltration to fatty cirrhosis or from slightly active chronic hepatitis to active postnecrotic cirrhosis, according to the extent of the liver injury a significant decrease of thrombocyte-count was evaluated. In case of non-active liver disease and posthepatitic status a thrombocytopenia also could be found. Cirrhotic transformation or proliferation of the connective tissue mainly in the periportal fields and inflammatory activity showed a significant correlation to the frequency of a thrombocyte decrease. A pathogenetic relation is ascribed to an increased thrombocyte storage in the spleen depending on the extent of the liver injury and the alteration of the portal blood stream up to a portal hypertension. Our results indicate such correlations of liver injury, portal pressure and platelet-pooling to thrombocyte-count even if the causal dependency cannot be proved.