[Five-year follow-up of clinical and laboratory data of early liver cirrhosis patients confirmed by liver biopsy].
OBJECTIVE
It is important to evaluate the general status of the liver including the structural and inflammatory aspects, as well as the functional aspects, in order to determine a patient's treatment modality and prognosis.


METHODS
55 Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis patients confirmed by liver biopsy have been categorized into 4 groups based on the shunt index and p-value(Y= 3.3431-0.8160 ALT/AST ratio-0.0343 X prothrombin time+2.6963 X shunt index, p = e(y)/(e(y)+1)), which was obtained by Thallium- 201 scan; group I - shunt index less than 0.3 and p-value less than 0.7; group II - shunt index less than 0.3 and p-value more than 0.7; group III - shunt index more than 0.3 and p-value less than 0.7; and group IV - shunt index more than 0.3 and p-value more than 0.7. Statistical analyses used were ANOVA, paired t-test, and Chi-square test.


RESULTS
1. The laboratory data after a 5-year follow-up also showed a significant difference between four groups. 2. In group IV, the Child-Pugh class after 5 years worsened, and complications of liver cirrhosis such as esophageal varix, ascites, and hepatic encephalopathy occurred more frequently. 3. In group II, the laboratory data after a 5-year follow-up indicated some improvement.


CONCLUSIONS
It can be seen that even early in patients with initially the same cirrhosis, the course of the illness can progress to a variety of different situations. The measurement of shunt index and the p-value of cirrhosis will be more helpful in the follow-up evaluation and predicting its prognostic index in liver cirrhosis patients.
Kim
Dong Uk
DU
Research Institute of Digestive Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Park
Geun Tae
GT
Koh
Dong Hee
DH
Cho
Hyun Seok
HS
Kim
Young Hoon
YH
Shim
Sung Gon
SG
Kim
Jin Bae
JB
Lee
Sung Hee
SH
Choi
Ho Soon
HS
Hahm
Joon Soo
JS
Lee
Min Ho
MH
D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008102:Liver Circulation; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis