Serum Cystatin C as a Predictor of Mortality in Elderly Patients with Liver Cirrhosis and Normal Serum Creatinine

Background/Purpose: Although the efficacy of cystatin C for assessing renal function in patients with liver cirrhosis is well proven, its prognostic efficacy, especially among elderly age group, has not been fully identified. This study aimed to investigate the predictive efficacy of serum cystatin C level for one year mortality in elderly patients with liver cirrhosis and normal serum creatinine. Methods: Elderly patients with liver cirrhosis ' admitted to Ain Shams University hospital' were enrolled, with a 1-year post-hospital discharge follow up period for mortality outcome. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of mortality. Results: In total, 60 elderly patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age of the patients was 65.81 +/- 4.45 years. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was the leading cause of underlying liver disease (63.3%). Mean serum cystatin C level was 1.05 +/- 0.34 mg/L. During the follow-up period, a total of 21 patients died (35%). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that cystatin C >1, Albumin <= 2.6 & MELD >16 are statistically significant independent predictors of 1-year mortality. Conclusion: Serum cystatin C level is an independent predictor of mortality in elderly patients with liver cirrhosis and normal serum creatinine. Copyright (c) 2021, Asian Association for Frailty and Sarcopenia and Taiwan Association for Integrated Care. Published by Full Universe Integrated Marketing Limited.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the predictive efficacy of serum cystatin C level for one-year mortality in elderly patients with liver cirrhosis. The results showed that serum cystatin C level is an independent predictor of mortality in elderly patients with liver cirrhosis.