Long-term effects of lamivudine treatment in Japanese chronic hepatitis B patients

Table 1 Comparison of patients with and without the emergence of YMDD mutants during treatment, median (range)

Characteristics	Mutant- or mixed mutant-type (n = 56)	Not detected or wild-type (n = 5)	P-value
No. of men (%)	42 (75.0)	3 (80.0)	NS
Age (yr)	50 (28-69)	52 (34-55)	NS
ALT level (U/L)	79 (15-1593)	63 (44-108)	NS
Albumin (g/dL)	4.1 (2.9-5.0)	4.3 (4.0-4.3)	NS
Platelet count (× 104/mL)	13.1 (3.3-43.3)	17.8 (15.2-26.0)	NS
HBeAg positivity (%)	23 (41.1)	2 (40.0)	NS
HBV-DNA level (log copies/mL)	6.5 (2.7-8.7)	7.0 (5.4-8.7)	NS
Cirrhosis (%)	22 (39.3)	1 (20.0)	NS
History of HCC (%)	8 (14.3)	1 (20.0)	NS
Virological breakthrough (%)	26 (46.4)	0	< 0.0001
Patients with hepatitis flare-ups (%)	20 (35.7)	0	< 0.0001

Between group comparison was done of whether or not YMDD mutant was detected at each observation point. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; NS: Not significant.