Clinical characteristics in the radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFTA), percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), and percutaneous acetic acid injection (PAI) groups
| Characteristic | RFTA | PEI | PAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| There were no significant difference among the RFTA, PEI, and PAI groups, as assessed by the Student’s t test or the χ2 test with Yates’ correction. | |||
| HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alainine aminotransferase. | |||
| No of patients | 62 | 62 | 63 |
| Age (yr) (mean (SD)) | 61 (10) | 60 (8) | 63 (9) |
| Sex (M/F) | 40/22 | 39/23 | 42/21 |
| Child-Pugh class (A/B) | 46/16 | 47/15 | 45/18 |
| Underlying liver disease (HBV/HCV/other) | 41/20/1 | 42/19/1 | 41/21/1 |
| No of tumours (1/2/3) | 49/10/3 | 49/12/1 | 48/14/1 |
| Ratio of main tumour of 1–2 cm/2.1–3 cm | 36/26 | 37/25 | 38/25 |
| Size of main tumour (cm) (mean (SD)) | 2.5 (1.0) | 2.3 (0.8) | 2.3 (0.9) |
| Edmondson’s grade of tumour (I or II/III or IV) | 44/34 | 43/33 | 44/35 |
| Baseline laboratory parameters | |||
| AST (IU/l) (mean (SD)) | 84 (37) | 89 (32) | 85 (39) |
| ALT (IU/l) (mean (SD)) | 79 (33) | 84 (25) | 80 (28) |
| Albumin (g/dl) (mean (SD)) | 4.0 (0.6) | 3.9 (0.4) | 4.0 (0.4) |
| Platelet count (×1000/mm3) (mean (SD)) | 9.4 (2.3) | 9.1 (2.2) | 9.0 (2.0) |
| Alfa fetoprotein (ng/ml) | |||
| <100 | 23 | 24 | 21 |
| 100–200 | 14 | 13 | 19 |
| 201–400 | 15 | 16 | 13 |
| >400 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Follow up (months) (mean (SD)) | 28 (12) | 26 (13) | 26 (10) |