ABSTRACT
Ascites is a very common problem in medical wards. It is the most common complication of cirrhosis of liver which is very alarming problem in this society due to increased transmission of hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus. To determine the etiological diagnosis in patients presenting with ascites and the frequency of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in patients of ascites due to hepatic cirrhosis. It was a descriptive study with convenience non probability sampling technique. The study was performed on cases with ascites presenting at Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur in all four medical units from December 2006 to May 2007for a period of 6 months. A total of 50 patients with ascites were studied for the different causes of ascites, their clinical presentations and the frequency of Hepatitis B and C and the data obtained were statistically analyzed with descriptive statistic. There were 37 males and 13 females, with mean age of 58.8 +/- 15.9 years. Liver cirrhosis accounted for 84% of cases [hepatitis B cirrhosis 38%, hepatitis C cirrhosis 42%, both 4%] followed by peritoneal tuberculosis 6%, malignancy 6%, congestive heart failure 2%, and nephrotic syndrome 2%. As regards the clinical presentation, 25 patients presented with gastrointestinal bleeding due to esophageal varices, 20 with fever, 18 with jaundice, 7 with abdominal tenderness, 4 with breathlessness, 3 with abdominal masses, 2 with generalized edema and 1 patient of ascites was asymptomatic. The study concluded that in this area the most common cause of ascites is the liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis B and C infections are playing this havoc role. The common clinical presentations seen were gastrointestinal bleeding and fever