Table 1.
Demographic, clinical and biochemical features of included patients n (%)
| Stable cirrhosis (n = 138) | Acute decompensation (n = 189) | |
| Age; yr, mean ± SD | 53.62 ± 12.52 | 53.58 ± 11.56 |
| Caucasians | 128 (92.8) | 129 (68.6) |
| Male gender | 97 (70.3) | 138 (73.0) |
| Etiology of cirrhosis | ||
| Alcohol | 42 (30.4) | 68 (36.0) |
| Hepatitis C | 50 (36.2) | 78 (41.3) |
| Hepatitis B | 6 (4.3) | 8 (4.2) |
| Cryptogenic | 14 (10.1) | 15 (7.9) |
| Other | 26 (18.8) | 20 (10.6) |
| Previous decompensation | 104 (75.4) | 120 (63.5) |
| Active alcoholism | 5 (3.6) | 68 (36.0) |
| Propranolol | 87(63.0) | 74 (40.2) |
| PPI | 69 (50.0) | 43 (23.4) |
| Complication at evaluation | ||
| Ascites | 28 (20.3) | 92 (48.7) |
| Hepatic encephalopathy | 14 (10.1) | 112 (59.3) |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding | 0 | 99 (52.4) |
| Bacterial infection | 0 | 50 (26.6) |
| ACLF | 0 | 45 (23.8) |
| Laboratory data | ||
| Leucocyte count (× 109), median | 4.90 | 7.20 |
| Sodium (meq/L), median | 138 | 135 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL), median | 0.90 | 1.1 |
| INR, median | 1.20 | 1.41 |
| Albumin (g/dL), mean ± SD | 3.44 ± 0.46 | 2.35 ± 0.69 |
| CRP (mg/L), median | 3.5 | 10.05 |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dL), median | 1.00 | 2.10 |
| IGFBP-3 (mcg/mL), median | 1.69 | 0.94 |
| Child-Pugh classification | ||
| A | 92 (66.7) | 23 (12.2) |
| B | 43 (31.2) | 91 (48.1) |
| C | 3 (2.2) | 75 (39.7) |
| MELD score, mean ± SD | 9.84 ± 2.28 | 16.32 ± 6.53 |
PPI: Proton-pump inhibitors; ACFL: Acute-on-chronic liver failure; INR: International normalized ratio; CRP: C-reactive protein; IGFBP-3: Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease.