الفهرس 
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Abstract
Since its discovery in the fifties of the twentieth century, TPO was a mystery aimed by many researchers. Thrombocytopenia secondary to liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension is a well-known complication of advanced liver disease, but theories about the underlying pathogenic mechanisms mostly centering on splenic sequestration and destruction of platelets, have failed to solve the problem.
The aim of the present work is to study the relation between thrombopoietin levels in serum with the chronic liver disease, and to find if thrombocytopenia associated with chronic liver disease is due to decreased production of thrombopoietin in the liver or due to increased destruction of platelets in the spleen or both.
The present work was carried on 20 patients with chronic viral hepatitis but not showing ultrasonographic evidence of cirrhosis, 20 patients having liver cirrhosis, 20 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 20 apparently healthy subjects.
All patients and controls were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, abdominal ultrasonography and laboratory investigations including; complete blood count, liver function tests, viral markers and serum TPO estimation. Results revealed the following: