Baseline features of patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellar carcinoma according to the presence or absence of HGV-RNA sequences in serum
| Characteristics | HGV-RNA negative (n=131) | HGV-RNA positive (n=5) | p Value |
| Age (y) | 64 (9) | 57 (9) | NS |
| Sex (male/female) | 88/43 | 3/2 | NS |
| Aetiology of cirrhosis | NS | ||
| Alcoholic | 11 (8%) | 1 (20%) | |
| HCV infection | 78 (60%) | 2 (40%) | |
| HBV infection | 4 (3%) | 0 | |
| HCV and HBV infection | 5 (4%) | 0 | |
| Alcoholic and HCV infection | 20 (15%) | 1 (20%) | |
| Alcoholic and HBV infection | 2 (2%) | 0 | |
| PBC and HCV infection | 0 | 1 (20%) | |
| Cryptogenic | 11 (8%) | 0 | |
| Presumed source of infection | NS | ||
| Blood transfusion | 35 (27%) | 4 (80%) | |
| Unknown | 96 (73%) | 1 (20%) | |
| WBC count (×109/l) | 5.9 (4.1) | 5.4 (2.4) | NS |
| Platelet count (×109/l) | 107 (53) | 107 (58) | NS |
| AST (IU/l) | 115 (130) | 149 (120) | NS |
| ALT (IU/l) | 106 (117) | 158 (121) | NS |
| Alkaline phosphatase (IU/l) | 290 (239) | 247 (119) | NS |
| γ-glutamyl transferase (IU/l) | 118 (145) | 149 (114) | NS |
| Bilirubin (mg/dl) | 2.2 (2.2) | 3.3 (3) | NS |
Quantitative variables are expressed as mean (SD). Categorical variables are expressed as n (%).
PBC, primary biliary cirrhosis.