Phlebotomy improves histology in chronic hepatitis C males with mild iron overload

Table 1 Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics at the time of their first liver biopsy of 28 patients with chronic hepatitis C included in the study

Variable1		Range	SD
Age (yr)	58	43-73	7.6
Gender (males/females)	21/7
Body mass index (kg/m2)	24.5	19-38.4	3.9
HCV genotype (1/non-1)	17/11
Drug addiction (yes/no)	2/26
Previous transfusion (yes/no)	11/17
Alcohol abuse (yes/no)2	3/25
Alcohol intake (g/d)	15	0-60	18.35
Treatment before recruitment (interferon based therapy/no treatment)	13/15
Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L, 0-40)	108	46-275	58
Alanine aminotransferase (U/L, 0-40)	130	52-318	57
γ glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L, 0-50)	86	14-242	59
Hemoglobin (g/100 mL, 13.7-17)	14.7	11-18	1.6
Serum iron (μmol/L, 11-32)	24.3	73-240	6.9
Transferrin saturation (%, 20-50)	43	23-69	11
Serum ferritin (ng/mL, 5-365)	387	64-1051	238
Hepatic iron grade (Searle’s score 0/1/2/3)	6/17/15/0	0-2
Hepatic iron concentration (μmol/g dry tissue, < 25)	23.3	7.5-40.5	7
Histological grade (Knodell’s score, median)	5	2-9
Histological stage (Knodell’s score 0/1/3/4)	0/14/9/5	1-4
Advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis (Knodell’s stage score 3-4) (yes/no)	14/14
Steatosis grade (0/1/2/3)3	9/12/5/0	0-2

¹Values are means, counts or medians when indicated;

²Yes: ≥ 50 g/d for men or 20 g/d for women;

³Data were available for 26 out of 28 patients. Steatosis grade: 0, no steatosis; 1, ≤ 33% of hepatocytes; 2, 34%-66%; 3, > 66%.