Inherited thrombophilia is not associated with an increased risk of liver fibrosis

Abstract

Abstract Background and aims: preliminary evidence suggest that inherited hypercoagulable disorders can lead to an increased risk of significant liver fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of significant fibrosis in patients with inherited thrombophilia, assessed by using liver stiffness (LS), and to compare this prevalence to that found in a large population-based cohort from the same region. Methods: this was a single-center, cross-sectional study. A complete laboratory analysis for liver disease, LS by transient elastography and abdominal ultrasound were performed in patients with inherited thrombophilia diagnosed between May 2013-February 2017. These patients were propensity score matched (ratio 1:4) with a population-based cohort from the same region (PREVHEP-ETHON study; NCT02749864; N=5988). Results: 241 patients with inherited thrombophilia were included. Eight patients (3.3%) had significant fibrosis (LS ≥8 kPa). All of them had risk factors for liver disease and met diagnostic criteria for different liver diseases. After matching 221 patients with thrombophilia with 884 patients of the PREVHEP-ETHON cohort, the prevalence of significant fibrosis was similar between both cohorts (1.8% vs 3.6%, p=0.488). Multivariate analysis showed that age and liver disease risk factors, but not belonging to the thrombophilia cohort, were associated with the presence of significant fibrosis. The magnitude of the increased risk of significant fibrosis in patients with risk factors for liver disease was also similar in both cohorts. Conclusions: our findings do not support that inherited thrombophilia increases the risk of developing significant liver fibrosis independently of the presence of liver-related causes of fibrosis.