Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the patients
| Factor | Value (range or number) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic hepatitis (n = 209) | Liver cirrhosis (n = 60) | PSE or splenectomy (n = 30) | |
| Sex (male/female) (cases) | 90/119 | 35/25 | 16/14 |
| Mean age/range (years) | 57.9 ± 11.2 | 62.7 ± 9.2 | 61.0 ± 7.1 |
| White blood cells (/mm3) | 4,648.8 ± 1,613.8 | 4,068.3 ± 1,156.2 | 3,410.4 ± 1,268.3a |
| Hemoglobin (g/dl) | 13.8 ± 1.5 | 13.2 ± 1.6 | 12.5 ± 2.2a |
| Platelet count (×104/mm3) | 16.2 ± 4.9 | 11.2 ± 3.0 | 6.0 ± 1.4a |
| AST (IU/l) | 47.2 ± 32.4 | 77.2 ± 47.1 | 58.0 ± 24.2a |
| ALT (IU/l) | 57.9 ± 51.8 | 82.3 ± 58.9 | 54.8 ± 24.9a |
| AST/ALT | 0.94 ± 0.29 | 1.01 ± 0.25 | 1.12 ± 0.30a |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dl) | 0.8 ± 0.3 | 0.9 ± 0.4 | 1.2 ± 0.5a |
| Albumin (g/dl) | 4.1 ± 0.3 | 3.8 ± 0.4 | 3.7 ± 0.5a |
| PT percentage activity (%) | 94.6 ± 10.0 | 83.5 ± 8.9 | 80.6 ± 13.2a |
| Associated esophageal varices (cases) (present/absent) | 0/209 | 42/18 | 18/12 |
| History of treatment for HCC (cases) (with or without) | 9/200 | 19/41 | 6/24 |
| Previous treatment of IFN (cases) with or without) | 81/128 | 30/30 | 24/6 |
| HCV genotype (1b/2a/2b/2a + 2b/2a or 2b) (cases) | 153/31/22/3/0 | 50/6/3/0/1 | 25/4/1/0/0 |
| HCV-RNA (KIU/ml) | |||
| 100 ≤ HCV-RNA < 1,000 KIU/ml (cases) | 64 | 19 | 10 |
| ≥1,000 KIU/ml (cases) | 145 | 41 | 20 |
| Amino acid substitutions in the HCV genotype 1b | (n = 153) | (n = 50) | (n = 25) |
| Core aa 70 [arginine/glutamine (histidine)/ND] | 92/49/12 | 22/26/2 | 12/13/0 |
| Core aa 91 (leucine/methionine/ND) | 95/46/12 | 35/13/2 | 19/6/0 |
| ISDR of NS5A in the HCV genotype 1b | (n = 153) | (n = 50) | (n = 25) |
| (Wild type/non-wild type/ND) | 117/23/13 | 38/9/3 | 22/3/0 |
| Genetic variation near IL28B gene(rs 8099917) in patients with genotype 1b | (n = 153) | (n = 50) | (n = 25) |
| (TT/TG/GG/ND) | 81/42/4/26 | 29/17/1/3 | 16/9/0/0 |
AST Aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST/ALT aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio, ND not determined
aWe excluded two patients who had already undergone splenectomy in other hospitals because we could not obtain their data before splenectomy