Prognostic value of 13C-phenylalanine breath test on predicting survival in patients with chronic liver failure

Table 1 Characteristics of 118 patients with chronic liver failure (n = 118, mean ± SD)

Variables	Surviving	Non-surviving	P
	n = 77	n = 41	value
Age (yr)	51.8 ± 10.6	55.8 ± 9.6	0.043
Sex (F/M)	49/28	22/19	0.292
Etiology
Alcoholic/others	15/62	8/33	0.997
Alcohol consumption	38	18	0.573
Pharmacological treatment	71	41	0.067
History of upper GI hemorrhage	53/24	28/13	0.952
Ascites	26	24	0.010
Encephalopathy	7	6	0.360
Albumin (g/L)	34 ± 6.0	29 ± 46	0.000
Total bilirubin (mmol/L)	27.4 ± 17.1	58.1 ± 99.2	0.059
Prothrombin time (%)	76.2 ± 18.9	67.6 ± 25.1	0.058
ALT (nkat/L)	1.2 ± 1.14	0.99 ± 0.81	0.247
AST (nkat/L)	1.3 ± 0.99	1.63 ± 0.81	0.370
AP (nkat/L)	4.18 ± 3.38	4.50 ± 3.41	0.623
Creatinine (mmol/L)	13.7 ± 3.4	22.2 ± 30.8	0.100
Glucose (mmol/L)	6.3 ± 2.4	5.8 ± 1.2	0.216
Child Pugh class
Class A	45	6
Class B	23	26	0.000
Class C	9	9
Child-Pugh score (points)	6.7 ± 1.9	8.3 ± 2.1	0.000
13C-phenylalanine oxidation (%)	4.9 ± 2.9	3.8 ± 2.2	0.027

Table 2 Variables with an independent prognostic value, as indicated by two Cox's models in patients with chronic liver failure (n = 118)

Variables	Coefficient	Hazard ratio1	SE	95% CI	Pvalue
1
Albumin (g/L)	-1.254	0.285	0.085	0.158-0.512	0.000
Total bilirubin (mmol/L)	0.149	1.161	0.051	1.065-1.265	0.001
Creatinine (mmol/L)	0.510	1.666	0.263	1.222-2.270	0.001
Age
≤ 60 yr	1.0002
> 60 yr	0.765	2.150	0.779	1.056-4.377	0.035
13C cumulative dose
< 5.0%	1.0002
≥ 5.0%	-0.798	0.449	0.178	0.206-0.979	0.044
2
Child Pugh class
A	1.0002
B	1.629	5.099	2.382	2.040-12.743	0.000
C	2.078	7.993	4.627	2.570-24.859	0.000
Creatinine (mmol/L)	0.417	1.518	0.200	1.173-1.966	0.002
Age,
≤ 60 yr	1.0002
> 60 yr	1.029	2.799	1.044	1.347-5.816	0.006
13C cumulative dose
< 5.0%	1.0002
≥ 5.0%	-1.081	0.338	0.140	0.150-0.762	0.009

¹Hazard ratio of Cox's proportional hazard regression;

²Reference category.