Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Incidence, aetiology and related comorbidities of cirrhosis : a Swedish population-based cohort study

Vaz, Juan LU orcid ; Eriksson, Berne ; Strömberg, Ulf LU ; Buchebner, David LU and Midlöv, Patrik LU orcid (2020) In BMC Gastroenterology 20.
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cirrhosis for individuals in Sweden has previously been reported as stable/low among European countries. However, Swedish population-based studies are scarce and none of them included data from the most recent decade (2010-2019). We aimed to describe the incidence and aetiology of cirrhosis in the Halland region from 2011 to 2018, and to describe the severity and prevalence of liver-related complications and other primary comorbidities at the time of cirrhosis diagnosis.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients with cirrhosis in Halland, which has a population of 310,000 inhabitants. Medical records and histopathology registries were reviewed.

RESULTS: A total of 598... (More)

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cirrhosis for individuals in Sweden has previously been reported as stable/low among European countries. However, Swedish population-based studies are scarce and none of them included data from the most recent decade (2010-2019). We aimed to describe the incidence and aetiology of cirrhosis in the Halland region from 2011 to 2018, and to describe the severity and prevalence of liver-related complications and other primary comorbidities at the time of cirrhosis diagnosis.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients with cirrhosis in Halland, which has a population of 310,000 inhabitants. Medical records and histopathology registries were reviewed.

RESULTS: A total of 598 patients with cirrhosis were identified. The age-standardised incidence was estimated at 23.2 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 21.3-25.1), 30.5 (95% CI 27.5-33.8) for men and 16.4 (95% CI 14.3-18.7) for women. When stratified by age, the highest incidence rates were registered at age 60-69 years. Men had a higher incidence rate for most age groups when compared to women. The most common aetiology was alcohol (50.5%), followed by cryptogenic cirrhosis (14.5%), hepatitis C (13.4%), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (5.7%). Most patients had at least one liver-related complication at diagnosis (68%). The most common comorbidities at diagnosis were arterial hypertension (33%), type 2 diabetes (29%) and obesity (24%).

CONCLUSIONS: Based on previous Swedish studies, our results indicate that the incidence of cirrhosis in Sweden might be considerably higher than previously reported. It is uncertain if the incidence of cirrhosis has previously been underestimated or if an actual increment has occurred during the course of the most recent decade. The increased incidence rates of cirrhosis reported in Halland are multifactorial and most likely related to higher incidence rates among the elderly. Pre-obesity and obesity are common in cirrhosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has become an important cause of cirrhosis in Halland.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Gastroenterology
volume
20
article number
84
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85083002837
  • pmid:32245414
ISSN
1471-230X
DOI
10.1186/s12876-020-01239-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7ddc4155-1f5b-4a16-8473-61a6462ad3d8
date added to LUP
2020-04-12 22:43:09
date last changed
2024-04-17 06:43:01
@article{7ddc4155-1f5b-4a16-8473-61a6462ad3d8,
  abstract     = {{<p>BACKGROUND: The incidence of cirrhosis for individuals in Sweden has previously been reported as stable/low among European countries. However, Swedish population-based studies are scarce and none of them included data from the most recent decade (2010-2019). We aimed to describe the incidence and aetiology of cirrhosis in the Halland region from 2011 to 2018, and to describe the severity and prevalence of liver-related complications and other primary comorbidities at the time of cirrhosis diagnosis.</p><p>METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients with cirrhosis in Halland, which has a population of 310,000 inhabitants. Medical records and histopathology registries were reviewed.</p><p>RESULTS: A total of 598 patients with cirrhosis were identified. The age-standardised incidence was estimated at 23.2 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 21.3-25.1), 30.5 (95% CI 27.5-33.8) for men and 16.4 (95% CI 14.3-18.7) for women. When stratified by age, the highest incidence rates were registered at age 60-69 years. Men had a higher incidence rate for most age groups when compared to women. The most common aetiology was alcohol (50.5%), followed by cryptogenic cirrhosis (14.5%), hepatitis C (13.4%), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (5.7%). Most patients had at least one liver-related complication at diagnosis (68%). The most common comorbidities at diagnosis were arterial hypertension (33%), type 2 diabetes (29%) and obesity (24%).</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: Based on previous Swedish studies, our results indicate that the incidence of cirrhosis in Sweden might be considerably higher than previously reported. It is uncertain if the incidence of cirrhosis has previously been underestimated or if an actual increment has occurred during the course of the most recent decade. The increased incidence rates of cirrhosis reported in Halland are multifactorial and most likely related to higher incidence rates among the elderly. Pre-obesity and obesity are common in cirrhosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has become an important cause of cirrhosis in Halland.</p>}},
  author       = {{Vaz, Juan and Eriksson, Berne and Strömberg, Ulf and Buchebner, David and Midlöv, Patrik}},
  issn         = {{1471-230X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Gastroenterology}},
  title        = {{Incidence, aetiology and related comorbidities of cirrhosis : a Swedish population-based cohort study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12876-020-01239-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12876-020-01239-6}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}