Infection does not increase long-term mortality in patients with acute severe alcoholic hepatitis treated with corticosteroids

Table 1 Patient characteristics at baseline (day 0 of steroid treatment) and day 7 of steroid treatment (n = 72) and survival at day 28, day 90 and 12 mo

Age	47.9 ± 10.6
Male (%)	74
Baseline CRP (mg/L)	33 ± 26.8
Baseline bilirubin (μmol/L)	294 ± 142
Baseline albumin (g/L)	25 ± 7.7
Baseline INR	1.9 ± 0.5
Baseline PT (s)	19.2 ± 4.6
Baseline urea (μmol/L)	3.9 ± 2.7
Baseline creatinine (μmol/L)	90 ± 56.6
Baseline WBC (× 109/L)	9.1 ± 4.5
Day 7 bilirubin (μmol/L)	251 ± 174
Baseline DF	53.0 ± 24.4
Baseline GAHS	8.1 ± 1.4
Baseline MELD	22.3 ± 6.7
Lille score	0.403 ± 0.350
Day 28 survival (%)	21
Day 90 survival (%)	32
12 mo survival (%)	43

CRP: C-reactive protein; INR: International normalised ratio; PT: Prothrombin time; WBC: White blood count; DF: Discriminant function; GAHS: Glasgow alcoholic hepatitis score; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of variables at baseline and day 7 of steroid treatment to assess association with day 90 outcome

	Day 90 outcome		P value
	Survivor (n = 49)	Non-survivor (n = 23)
Age (yr)	45	53	0.01
Gender (% male)	73	74	1.00
Sepsis on admission (%)	10	13	0.50
Sepsis at any time (%)	51	48	1.00
Sepsis after steroids (%)	33	30	1.00
CRP (mg/L)	30	40	0.15
Baseline bilirubin (μmol/L)	301	279	0.52
Baseline albumin (g/L)	25	24	0.38
Baseline INR	1.8	2	0.14
Baseline PT (s)	18.6	20.5	0.17
Baseline urea (μmol/L)	3.2	5.5	< 0.01
Baseline creatinine (μmol/L)	90	91	0.93
Baseline WBC (× 109/L)	9	10	0.44
Day 7 bilirubin (μmol/L)	244	254	0.67
Baseline DF	51.1	57.2	0.41
Baseline GAHS	7.8	8.7	0.04
Baseline MELD	21.7	23.7	0.23
Lille score	0.38	0.46	0.38

Continuous variables were compared by Mann-Whitney U test and categorical data by Fisher Exact test. CRP: C-reactive protein; INR: International normalised ratio; PT: Prothrombin time; WBC: White blood count; DF: Discriminant function; GAHS: Glasgow alcoholic hepatitis score; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease.

Table 3 Multivariate regression analysis with 90 d outcome as the dependent variable and age and baseline urea as independent variables

	R2	Adjusted R2	B	Std. Error	F	Sig
Model	0.205	0.182		0.425	8.87	< 0.001
Constant			-0.351	0.234		0.138
Urea			0.054	0.020		0.010
Age			0.010	0.005		0.071

The model generated accounted for approximately 20% of the dependent variable (R² = 0.205). The model demonstrated that urea was the only statistically significant predictor of 90 d outcome.