Table 1. Patient characteristics.
| n = 116 | CNI free (group 1) n = 19 | CNI low (group 2) n = 36 | CNI standard (group 3) n = 30 | Control (group 4) n = 31 | p | p1vs31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) mean ±SD | 60.74 (±9.1) | 59.67 (±9.4) | 54.8 (±10.1) | 58.48 (±7.8) | 0.093 | |
| Sex (male/female) | 14 (74%)/5 | 24 (67%)/12 | 18 (60%)/12 | 15 (48%)/16 | 0.277 | |
| Years after OLT median (IQ range) | 11 (3) | 10 (7) | 10 (9) | n. a. | 0.191 | |
| History of hepatic encephalopathy (+/-) | 4 (21%)15 | 4 (11%)/32 | 4 (13%)/26 | n. a. | 0.595 | |
| Grade of hepatic encephalopathy at OLT | 1 n = 3 3 n = 1 |
1 n = 2 2 n = 1 3 n = 1 |
1 n = 2 3 n = 2 |
n.a. | 0.712 | |
| Post-transplant encephalopathy (+/-) | 2 (11%)/17 | 4 (11%)/32 | 7 (23%)/23 | n. a. | 0.314 | |
| Arterial hypertension (+/-) | 12 (63%)/7 | 23 (64%)/13 | 17 (57%)/13 | 11 (35%)/20 | 0.093 | |
| Diabetes mellitus (+/-) | 4 (21%)/15 | 8 (22%)/28 | 4 (13%)/26 | 1 (3%)/30 | 0.136 | |
| Hypercholesterolemia (+/-) | 7 (37%)/12 | 5 (14%)/31 | 7 (23%)/23 | 3 (10%)/28 | 0.083 | |
| GFR mean ±SD in ml/min | 63.21 (±19) | 74.36 (±23.96) | 84.27 (±24.23) | n. a. | 0.010 | 0.007 |
| Aetiology of liver disease (n) | ||||||
| Hepatitis B | 3 | 4 | 6 | n. a. | ||
| Hepatitis C | 1 | 0 | 0 | n. a. | ||
| Autoimmune (AIH, PBC, PSC) | 3 | 16 | 11 | n. a. | ||
| Alcohol | 2 | 1 | 1 | n. a. | ||
| Acute liver failure | 1 | 2 | 2 | n. a. | ||
| others | 9 | 13 | 10 | n. a. |
1 Tukey post-hoc testing of group 1 vs group 3. n, number; CNI, calcineurin inhibitors; SD, standard deviation; OLT, orthotopic liver transplantation; IQ range, interquartile range; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; AIH, autoimmune hepatitis; PBC, Primary biliary cholangitis; PSC, primary sclerosing cholangitis