Procalcitonin, and cytokines document a dynamic inflammatory state in non-infected cirrhotic patients with ascites

Table 1 Characteristics of the 88 patients studied

Primary liver disease	ETOH	NASH	HCV	Cardiac/miscellaneous	Total
Patients
Ascites (+)	21	0	8	12	41
Ascites (–)	13	11	23	0	47
Age (yr)					54 ± 11
Ascites (+)	50 ± 1	58 ± 5	54 ± 10	55 ± 11
Ascites (–)	48 ± 5	56 ± 8	53 ± 9	56 ± 12
Gender (M/F)					66/22
Ascites (+)	11/9	N/A	14/9	9/8
Ascites (–)	8/3	3/8	4/4	N/A
MELD score					9.6 ± 3.5
Ascites (+)	9.6 ± 2.1	9.3 ± 1.6	10.3 ± 5.0	8.6 ± 2.5
Ascites (–)	9.4 ± 2.2	9.2 ± 2.0	10.0 ± 4.6	8.6 ± 3.1
CTP score					5.6 ± 1.2
Ascites (+)	5.8 ± 1.5	5.3 ± 0.6	5.6 ± 1.5	5.4 ± 0.8
Ascites (–)	5.6 ± 2.0	5.3 ± 0.8	5.6 ± 1.2	5.3 ± 1.2

Data given as mean ± SE. ETOH: Alcohol; NASH: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; MELD: Model for End-stage Liver Disease; CTP: Childs-Turcotte-Pugh.