Table 1.
Basic clinical characteristics of the studied groups
| Parameter | HCV | AIH | Wilson disease | P value |
| (n = 50) | (n = 20) | (n = 20) | ||
| Age (yr) | 8.50 ± 3.51 | 8.98 ± 2.98 | 12.05 ± 4.25 | 0.003 |
| Sex [male, n (%)] | 39 (78) | 7 (35) | 13 (65) | 0.003 |
| Jaundice, n (%) | 0 (0) | 18 (90) | 5 (25) | < 0.0001 |
| Abdominal enlargement, n (%) | 0 (0) | 5 (25) | 15 (75) | < 0.0001 |
| Liver US, n (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Normal | 50 (100) | 0 (0) | 1 (5) | |
| Enlarged | 0 (0) | 20 (100) | 13 (65) | |
| Shrunken | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (30) | |
| Splenomegaly US, n (%) | 0 (0) | 16 (80) | 20 (100) | < 0.0001 |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.97 ± 0.24 | 7.70 ± 3.72 | 3.37 ± 2.85 | < 0.0001 |
| Direct bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.24 ± 0.17 | 5.58 ± 3.24 | 1.8 ± 1.30 | < 0.0001 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.40 ± 0.61 | 3.71 ± 1.71 | 3.55 ± 0.71 | < 0.0001 |
| Aspartate transaminase (U/L) | 27.21 ± 14.75 | 225.10 ± 21.7 | 76.59 ± 68.43 | < 0.0001 |
| Alanine transaminase (U/L) | 29.52 ± 14.93 | 218.65 ± 14.2 | 87.05 ± 56.26 | < 0.0001 |
| Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L) | 28.66 ± 13.80 | 52.50 ± 19.22 | 51.25 ± 37.89 | < 0.0001 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/L) | 127.82 ± 74.13 | 122.25 ± 45.03 | 222.30 ± 134.23 | < 0.0001 |
| Prothrombin time (s) | 13.2 ± 1.1 | 14.87 ± 3.13 | 16.18 ± 5.31 | 0.003 |
| Activity grade, n (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Minimal (A1-A3) | 40 (80) | 6 (30) | 0 (0) | |
| Mild (A4-A8) | 8 (16) | 8 (40) | 18 (90) | |
| Moderate (A9-A12) | 2 (4) | 6 (30) | 2 (10) | |
| Fibrosis category, n (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Absent (F0) | 4 (8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Mild (F1) | 32 (64) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) | |
| Moderate (F2-F3) | 14 (28) | 7 (35) | 6 (30) | |
| Severe (F4-F6) | 0 (0) | 12 (60) | 14 (70) | |
| Fibrosis area fraction (%) | 2.72 ± 1.66 | 17.41 ± 9.24 | 12.68 ± 4.59 | < 0.0001 |
| Liver stiffness (kPa) | 5.75 ±1.81 | 22.13 ± 14.23 | 20.05 ± 10.57 | < 0.0001 |
AIH: Autoimmune hepatitis; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; US: Ultrasonography.