End-of-treatment virologic response does not predict relapse after lamivudine treatment for chronic hepatitis B

Table 2 Characteristics of relapsers and non-relapsers in 12 patients negative for HBeAg before lamivudine treatment

	Relapsers	Non-relapsers	P value
Case number	6	6	-
Male-number (%)	6 (100)	4 (66.7)	0.13
Age (yr)	50.7 ± 10.1	39.7 ± 18.5	0.24
ALT (IU/L)	227 (80-452)	320 (98-2410)	0.24
Serum total bilirubin	1.2 (0.8-6.5)	2.9 (0.6-18.6)	0.21
(mg/dL)
Serum HBV DNA level	287 (16-2489)	117 (3-3121)	0.41
(pg/mL)
Duration of lamivudine	12.5 ± 2.6	12.2 ± 1.2	0.78
treatment (mo)
HBV genotype	6/0 (100/0)	3/3 (50/50)	0.18
B/C-number (%)

Values are expressed as mean ± SD or median (range). HBV DNA levels were determined by a branched DNA assay (Bayer Corporation).