Pegah Golabi1, James M Paik1, Katherine Eberly2, Leyla de Avila1, Saleh A Alqahtani3, Zobair M Younossi4. 1. Betty and Guy Beatty Center for Integrated Research, Inova Health System, Falls Church, VA, United States. 2. Center for Liver Disease, Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, Falls Church, VA, United States. 3. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; Liver Transplant Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 4. Betty and Guy Beatty Center for Integrated Research, Inova Health System, Falls Church, VA, United States; Center for Liver Disease, Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, Falls Church, VA, United States. Electronic address: zobair.younossi@inova.org.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Cause of mortality in patients with chronic liver diseases (CLDs) may differ based on underlying etiology of liver disease. Our aim was to assess different causes of death in patients with the most common types of CLD using a national database from the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Death data from 2008 and 2018 from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were used. The rank of cause-of-death for each etiology of CLDs was assessed. Causes of death were classified by the ICD-10 codes. Liver-related deaths included liver cancer, cirrhosis and CLDs. RESULTS: Among a total of 2,826,531 deaths in 2018, there were 85,807 (3.04%) with underlying CLD (mean age at death 63.0 years, 63.8% male, 70.8% white). Liver-related mortality was the leading cause of death for all types of CLD [45.8% in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), 53.0% in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), 57.8% in chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 81.8% in alcoholic liver disease (ALD)]. This was followed by death from cardiac causes (NAFLD 10.3%, CHC 9.1%, CHB 4.6%, ALD 4.2%) and extrahepatic cancer (NAFLD 7.0%, CHC 11.9%, CHB 14.9%, ALD 2.1%). Although liver cancer was the leading cause of cancer death, lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancer were also common causes of cancer death. CONCLUSIONS: Among deceased patients with CLD, underlying liver disease was the leading cause of death. Among solid cancers, liver cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related mortality.
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Cause of mortality in patients with chronic liver diseases (CLDs) may differ based on underlying etiology of liver disease. Our aim was to assess different causes of death in patients with the most common types of CLD using a national database from the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Death data from 2008 and 2018 from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were used. The rank of cause-of-death for each etiology of CLDs was assessed. Causes of death were classified by the ICD-10 codes. Liver-related deaths included liver cancer, cirrhosis and CLDs. RESULTS: Among a total of 2,826,531 deaths in 2018, there were 85,807 (3.04%) with underlying CLD (mean age at death 63.0 years, 63.8% male, 70.8% white). Liver-related mortality was the leading cause of death for all types of CLD [45.8% in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), 53.0% in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), 57.8% in chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 81.8% in alcoholic liver disease (ALD)]. This was followed by death from cardiac causes (NAFLD 10.3%, CHC 9.1%, CHB 4.6%, ALD 4.2%) and extrahepatic cancer (NAFLD 7.0%, CHC 11.9%, CHB 14.9%, ALD 2.1%). Although liver cancer was the leading cause of cancer death, lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancer were also common causes of cancer death. CONCLUSIONS: Among deceased patients with CLD, underlying liver disease was the leading cause of death. Among solid cancers, liver cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related mortality.