Cirrhosis of the Liver in Iran

Introduction  Cirrhosis of the liver is a particularly common clinical problem in Iran. The frequent association of cirrhosis in the western world with alcoholism is very rare in this country, and certain other clinical differences appear to exist. Malnutrition exists extensively in the villages although it is difficult to establish a specific relationship of this to the genesis of cirrhosis. Sporadic cases are accounted for by accepted etiologic factors such as hemochromatosis, Wilson's disease, biliary cirrhosis, etc., but in the majority of patients, the cause remains obscure. To our knowledge no study has been reported on this subject from Iran. The purpose of this paper is to document clinical, hematologic, biochemical, and histologic findings in patients with cirrhosis of the liver and briefly to compare these findings with those noted in certain other parts of the world.

Methods  Thirty-nine patients were studied. They represented patients who were admitted to either