Types of anaemia in patients with cirrhosis at the Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital centre of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

: During chronic diseases, patients may develop a specific form of anaemia called "inflammatory anaemia" or anaemia of chronic disease. The objective of this study was to study the forms of anaemia during cirrhosis. The leading cause of cirrhosis in these 161 patients was chronic active (viral) hepatitis, accounting for 58.3% of cases. The overall prevalence of anaemia was 74.5%. All types of anaemia were observed. Normochromic normocytic anaemia was observed in 43.3%, combined with blood loss in 48%. These results show that the hypochromic microcytic anaemia observed in 20% of cases is not exclusively linked to blood loss or iron deficiency. They also emphasise the importance of the haemogram interpretation to avoid routine iron prescription.