Table 1.
Characteristics of the patients classified according to the VSR
| Characteristic | Total (n = 606) |
High VSR (n = 252) |
Normal VSR (n = 354) |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 68 (61–75) | 71 (64–80) | 66 (59–77) | <0.001 |
| Sex Male |
484 (80) | 191 (76) | 293 (83) | 0.040 |
| Female | 122 (20) | 62 (24) | 61 (17) | |
| Etiology | ||||
| HBV and/or HCV | 392 (65) | 129 (51) | 263 (74) | <0.001 |
| Others | 214 (35) | 123 (49) | 91 (25) | |
| Previous treatment for HCC Yes |
228 (38) | 99 (39) | 129 (36) | 0.497 |
| No | 378 (62) | 153 (61) | 225 (64) | |
| Diabetes | ||||
| Yes | 180 (30) | 89 (35) | 91 (26) | 0.012 |
| No | 426 (70) | 163 (65) | 263 (74) | |
| Hypertension | ||||
| Yes | 273 (45) | 140 (56) | 133 (38) | <0.001 |
| No | 333 (55) | 112 (44) | 221 (62) | |
| Dyslipidemia | ||||
| Yes | 56 (9) | 32 (13) | 24 (7) | 0.015 |
| No | 550 (91) | 220 (87) | 330 (93) | |
| Cardiovascular disease | ||||
| Yes | 42 (7) | 24 (10) | 18 (5) | 0.036 |
| No | 564 (93) | 228 (90) | 336 (95) | |
| Platelet count, ×104/mm3 | 14.4 (10.5–19.1) | 14.7 (10.6–19.5) | 14.1 (10.4–18.9) | 0.180 |
| Total bilirubin, mg/dL | 0.8 (0.6–1.0) | 0.8 (0.6–1.0) | 0.8 (0.6–1.0) | 0.154 |
| Albumin, g/dL | 3.9 (3.6–4.2) | 3.9 (3.6–4.2) | 3.9 (3.6–4.3) | 0.653 |
| Total lymphocyte count, /mm3 | 1,338 (994–1,756) | 1,357 (982–1,721) | 1,328 (1,006–1,778) | 0.454 |
| Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio | 1.9 (1.4–2.7) | 2.1 (1.6–2.8) | 1.8 (1.3–2.6) | 0.046 |
| ICG R15, % | 15 (10–21) | 15 (10–21) | 15 (10–21) | 0.680 |
| Child-Pugh class | ||||
| A | 555 (92) | 229 (91) | 326 (92) | 0.657 |
| B | 51 (8) | 23 (9) | 28 (8) | |
| AFP, ng/mL | 18.3 (5.3–204.1) | 14.9 (5.0–167.5) | 20.2 (5.4–223.7) | 0.454 |
| DCP, mAU/mL | 142 (33–1,568) | 215 (42–3,350) | 97 (31.5–863) | 0.019 |
| Liver histology | ||||
| Normal liver + chronic hepatitis | 305 (50) | 132 (52) | 173 (49) | 0.411 |
| Liver fibrosis + liver cirrhosis | 301 (50) | 120 (48) | 181 (51) | |
| Tumor size, cm | 3.5 (2.2–6.2) | 4.0 (2.5–7.0) | 3.0 (2.0–5.5) | 0.001 |
| Number of tumors | ||||
| Solitary | 417 (69) | 170 (67) | 247 (70) | 0.594 |
| Multiple | 189 (31) | 82 (33) | 107 (30) | |
| MVI | ||||
| Positive | 196 (32) | 87 (35) | 109 (31) | 0.334 |
| Negative | 410 (68) | 165 (65) | 245 (69) | |
| Differentiation of HCC | ||||
| Well | 60 (10) | 28 (11) | 32 (9) | 0.638 |
| Moderate | 364 (60) | 146 (58) | 218 (62) | |
| Poor | 167 (28) | 73 (29) | 94 (27) | |
| Unknown | 15 (2) | 5 (2) | 10 (3) | |
| TNM stage | ||||
| I + II | 361 (60) | 145 (58) | 216 (61) | 0.402 |
| III + IV | 245 (40) | 107 (42) | 138 (39) | |
| Surgical procedure | ||||
| Lobectomy or more | 210 (35) | 95 (38) | 115 (33) | 0.195 |
| Less than segmentectomy | 396 (65) | 157 (62) | 239 (67) | |
| Operative time, min | 367 (277–459) | 367 (283–463) | 366 (270–454) | 0.839 |
| Operative blood loss, mL | 720 (330–1,385) | 800 (357–1,460) | 607 (298–1,307) | 0.651 |
| Postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo classification) | ||||
| Grade III or higher | 132 (22) | 64 (25) | 68 (19) | 0.073 |
| Below grade III | 474 (78) | 188 (75) | 286 (81) | |
| BMI | 23.2 (21.1–25.1) | 23.2 (21.2–25.6) | 23.2 (21.0–24.9) | 0.852 |
| Preoperative SMI | ||||
| Normal | 522 (86) | 206 (81) | 316 (89) | 0.012 |
| Low | 84 (14) | 46 (18) | 38 (11) | |
| Preoperative IMAC | ||||
| Normal | 348 (57) | 131 (52) | 216 (61) | 0.025 |
| High | 258 (43) | 121 (48) | 137 (39) | |
| Preoperative VSR | ||||
| Males | 1.203 (0.883–1.606) | 1.713 (1.463–2.586) | 0.967 (0.747–1.252) | <0.001 |
| Females | 0.709 (0.491–0.987) | 0.984 (0.807–1.237) | 0.494 (0.377–0.661) | <0.001 |
Values are presented as n (%) or median (IQR). Percentages might not add up to 100% because of rounding. VSR, visceral-to-subcutaneous adipose tissue area ratio; IQR, interquartile range; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; ICG R15, indocyanine green retention test at 15 min; AFP, α-fetoprotein; DCP, des-γ-carboxyprothrombin; MVI, microvascular invasion; TNM, tumour-node-metastasis (stage defined by the Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan); BMI, body mass index; SMI, skeletal muscle mass index; IMAC, intramuscular adipose tissue content.