Abstract: Objective To investigate the changes of electrocardiogram and Doppler echocardiography in cirrhotic patients. Methods A total of 167 cirrhotic patients（45 in Child A,64 in Child B and 58 in Child C）,75 patients with hepatitis B and 90 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. They were examined by Doppler echocardiography and ECG. The left ventricular end-diastolic dimension（LVDd）,left atrial anteroposterior dimension（LA）,left ventricular posterior wall thickness in diastole（LVPW）,interventricular septal thickness （IVS）,left ventricular ejection fraction（LVEF）,peak E and A and the ratio of E/A were evaluated. Results 112 of 167 cirrhotic patients（67%） had abnormal ECG manifestation,much higher than in hepatitis B（40%） or in healthy control （22.2%,P<0.05）;The abnormal changes of ECG in Child-Pugh class C were significant higher than in other two groups （77.5% vs. 53.3% in class A or 67.1% in class B（P<0.05）;The LVDd was （45.62±4.32）mm,LA was （32.21±4.12）mm,IVS was （10.01±1.25）mm,LVPW was（9.8±1.25）mm,peak A was （0.80±0.20） in patients with cirrhosis,significantly different compared to those [LVDd（43.01±4.7）mm,LA（30.45±1.52）mm,IVS（9.4±0.55）mm,LVPW（9.10±0.22）mm,peak A （0.75±0.45）mm] in patients with CHB or [LVDd（42.35±3.1）mm,LA（28.85±2.24）mm,IVS（9.2±1.5）mm,LVPW（9.2±0.80）mm,peak A （0.72±0.13）] in healthy subjects（P<0.05）;E/A ratio in cirrhotic patients was reduced compared with hepatitis B or controls（P<0.05）. Conclusion The change of ECG is variable in cirrhotic patients. As the deficiency of cardiac diastolic functions in cirrhotic patients exists,the ECG and echocardiography should be performed regularly in order to manage in time.

Key words: Cirrhosis, Cardiomyopathy, Electroc ardiogram, Doppler echocardiography