Efficacy of combination therapy with natriuretic and aquaretic drugs in cirrhotic ascites patients: A randomized study

Table 1 Baseline patient characteristics n (%)

	Combination diuretic (n = 28)	Conventional diuretic (n = 28)	P value
Age, yr	69.3 ± 11.8	69.4 ± 12.6	0.9739
Gender: Male	17 (60.7)	15 (53.6)	0.7875
Weight, kg	61.7 ± 13.8	58.0 ± 13.5	0.3082
Body mass index, kg/m2	24.2 ± 4.74	22.4 ± 3.48	0.1044
Etiology: HBV/HCV/alcoholic/other	2/12/9/5	2/10/9/7	0.9341
Child-Pugh score	10.4 ± 1.2	10.3 ± 1.4	0.7653
Child-Pugh stage: A/B/C	0/16/12	0/15/13	0.7881
Liver cancern	7 (25.0)	8 (28.6)	1.0000
Varicose veins	23 (82.1)	25 (89.3)	0.7049
Liver encephalopathy: Grade 0/I	24/4	24/4	1.0000
Concomitant medication:
Spironolactone, mg/d	50.9 ± 29.3	50.0 ± 22.6	0.8987
Furosemide, mg/d	38.6 ± 18.4	37.7 ± 20.3	0.8639
BCAA	21 (75.0)	19 (67.8)	0.7674
Non-absorbable disaccharides	8 (28.5)	10 (35.7)	0.7748
ARB or ACE inhibitor	3 (10.7)	4 (14.3)	1.0000
Duration of diuretics therapy, d	25.9 ± 28.3	22.8 ± 20.1	0.6318
Pretreatment urine volume, mL/d	1356 ± 651	1517 ± 939	0.4213
Ascites volume, mL	2204 ± 1384	2104 ± 1084	0.6400
Grade of ascites: Mild/moderate/severe	5/15/8	6/13/9	0.8901
Amount of water drunk, mL/d	1032 ± 491.2	1071 ± 870.0	0.9710
Pulse rate, /min	78 ± 10.1	78 ± 11.2	0.8514
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg	121 ± 21.6	116 ± 12.9	0.3130
Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg	65 ± 13.5	72 ± 21.5	0.2115

Data are expressed as median, n (%) or mean ± SD. BCAA: Branched chain amino acids; ARB: Angiotensin receptor blocker; ACE: Angiotensin-converting enzyme.