Table 2.

Findings on Liver Biopsy, Endoscopy, and Laboratory Blood Tests at Time of Study Entry in Patients with Cirrhosis and Bleeding Esophageal Varices Randomized to Endoscopic Sclerotherapy or Emergency Portacaval Shunt

Findings	EST	EPCS	p Value
Cirrhosis on liver biopsy, n (%)	106 (100)	105 (100)	1.0
Esophageal varices on endoscopy, n (%)	106 (100)	105 (100)	1.0
Size 2+ to 4+ (on scale of 0–4+), n (%)	102 (96)	105 (100)	0.68
Active bleeding, n (%)	41 (39)	29 (28)	0.11
Clot on varices, n (%)	53 (50)	51 (49)	0.89
Red color signs on varices, n (%)	67 (63)	66 (63)	1.00
Gastric varices on endoscopy, n (%)	19 (18)	17 (16)	0.86
Portal hypertensive gastropathy, n (%)	23 (22)	22 (21)	1.00
Laboratory blood tests, median/mean (range)
Lowest hemoglobin, g/dL	8.0/8.4 (2.0–8.1)	8.0/8.0 (2.6–11.9)	0.40
Lowest hematocrit, %	23.4/22.8 (6.0–39.4)	23.5/23.7 (11.0–35.4)	0.46
Lowest platelet count, 1,000/mm3	87/97.6 (25–340)	76/95.4 (15–268)	0.36
Serum bilirubin, mg/dL
Direct	0.5/1.1 (0.1–12.0)	0.4/0.7 (0.1–3.7)	0.12
Total	2.4/3.5 (0.6–15.2)	1.9/27 (0.4–148)	0.25
Albumin, g/dL	2.6/2.6 (1.4–3.9)	2.5/2.6 (1.4–4.5)	0.49
Aspartate transaminase, IU/L	73/116 (16–1,359)	66/88 (16–582)	0.37
Alanine transaminase, IU/L	35/54 (11–432)	36/47 (9–582)	0.56
Alkaline phosphatase, IU/L	86/95 (1.3–367)	79/88 (29–218)	0.20
International normalized ratio	1.3/2.8 (0.6–5.8)	1.3/1.4 (1.1–2.6)	0.39
Arterial ammonia, µmol/L	76/93 (33–253)	75/92 (26–497)	0.83
Creatinine, mg/dL	0.8/1.4 (0.4–10)	0.8/1.0 (0.5–2.7)	0.89
Blood urea nitrogen, mg/Dl	22/27 (7–85)	21/23 (6–69)	0.22
Glucose, mg/dL	133/152 (74–548)	135/157 (60–368)	0.44
Blood alcohol 0.01% or higher, n (%)	9 (8)	13 (12)	0.29
Blood alpha fetoprotein, ng/mL, mean (range)	4 (0–18)	4 (0–10)	0.84
Positive HBV or HCV serology, n (%)	37 (35)	44 (42)	0.32

EST, endoscopic sclerotherapy; EPCS, emergency portacaval shunt; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus.