Abstract
Background: Dengue fever has been an important public health problem in recent years. Hepatic involvement in Dengue ranges from elevated liver enzymes to fulminant hepatic failure. The present study was carried out to evaluate liver dysfunction in patients with dengue infections and the correlation between liver function tests and platelet count.
Methods: Hospital-based case-control study was conducted on 141 hospitalized with Dengue infection (NS 1 and IgM positive). Dengue Seropositive patients were selected and subjected to complete blood count, and Liver function tests were analysed.
Results: The participants were found to have elevated SGOT, SGPT and lower serum albumin and platelet count levels compared to the control on evaluation. A significant negative correlation was noted between SGOT/ SGPT levels and baseline platelet counts. The Pearson correlation between platelet count and SGOT showed r = -0.185 and p-value <0.01, which proves that when platelet count decreases, the SGOT levels increases. Similarly, the correlation between platelet count and SGPT showed r=-0.166 and <0.01, which proves that when platelet count decreases, the SGPT levels increases.
Conclusion: Statistically significant correlation was observed between liver enzymes with platelet count. Furthermore, the severity of dengue infection predicted the severity of liver derangements. It is recommended that patients with dengue infections be screened for hepatic dysfunction. As hepatic dysfunction in dengue is transient and reversible, early identification of the same would help to reduce life-threatening complications.

Key words: SGOT, SGPT, Dengue