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

Table 3 Characteristics of relapsers and non-relapsers in 14 patients positive for HBeAg before lamivudine treatment

	Relapsers	Non-relapsers	P value
Case number	6	8	-
Male-number (%)	5 (83.3)	8 (100)	0.43
Age (yr)	32.5 ± 12.6	37.4 ± 10.4	0.44
ALT (IU/L)	281 (84-1298)	306 (97-868)	0.34
Serum total bilirubin (mg/dL)	1.1 (0.7-11.1)	1.2 (0.7-3.3)	0.28
Serum HBV DNA level at baseline (pg/mL)	310 (7-1590)	280 (20-3376)	0.34
Duration of lamivudine treatment (mo)	15.5 ± 6.5	13.3 ± 3.5	0.47
HBeAg seroconversion-number (%)	2 (33.3)	5 (62.5)	0.30
Duration of additional lamivudine treatment after HBeAg seroconversion (mo)	12.4	6.0 ± 4.7	0.75
HBV genotype B/C -number (%)	5/1 (83.3/16.7)	5/3 (62.5/37.5)	0.58

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