Epidemiological profile of abnormal hepatic function tests at the Avicenne Marrakech military hospital

The epidemiology of liver function test abnormalities is an important research area aimed at understanding the prevalence, distribution, and risk factors associated with these disorders. This is a retrospective study conducted over a period of 6 months. The study population consists of all patients hospitalized at the Avicenne Military Hospital in Marrakech with abnormal liver function tests. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire.

Ninety patients with abnormal liver function tests were included, with a mean age of 52.5 years. Males represented 53.3% of the cases, while females accounted for 46.7%, with a sex ratio of 1.14. The main medical histories were type 2 diabetes (18.9%) and smoking (17.8%), followed by hypertension (10%). The most common functional symptoms were asthenia (33.3%), followed by abdominal pain (27.7%) and fever (20%). Physical signs were dominated by jaundice (34.4%), followed by ascites (21.1%) and hepatomegaly (16.6%). Biological abnormalities were predominantly elevated AST (77.7%), followed by ALT (64.4%) and GGT (62.2%), then ALP (48.8%) and bilirubin (44.4%). The most frequent ultrasound abnormalities were hepatomegaly (33.9%) and ascites (25.4%). The etiologies responsible for liver function test abnormalities were predominantly cirrhosis (15.5%), followed by lithiasis cholecystitis (11.1%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (8.9%).