Lamivudine therapy for children with chronic hepatitis B

Table 1 Characteristics of the patients

	n (%)	Mean	Median
Sex
Boys	48 (81.4)
Girls	11 (18.6)
Age	6-18	10.5 ± 3.24	10
(yr)
Age of HBV infection	1-14	3.7 ± 3.09	3
(yr)
Duration of HBV infection	1-16	6.8 ± 3.09	6
(yr)
Completed previous IFN-α treatment
Yes	51 (86.4)
No	8 (13.6)
ALT activity before treatment	20-664	101 ± 96.3	76
(IU/L)
Inflammation activity score
Grade 1	24 (40.7)
Grade 2	33 (55.9)
Grade 3	2 (3.4)
Grade 4	0
Staging
Stage 0	7 (11.9)
Stage 1	37 (62.7)
Stage 2	12 (20.3)
Stage 3	2 (3.4)
Stage 4	1 (1.7)
Serum HBV DNA level	200 - 200 000	135 632 ± 81 018	200 000
(copies/mL)
Lamivudnie dose (mg per kg	1.3 - 4.1	3.0 ± 0.85	2.9
of body weight)

Table 2 Statistical analysis of factors predicting response to lamivudine treatment

Factors that may predict response	ALT normalisation	HBe/anti-HBeseroconversion	Sustained viralresponse
Sex	χ2(Y)=0.37, P = 0.54	χ2(Y)=0.13, P = 0.72	χ2(Y)=0.01, P = 0.76
Previous IFN-α treatment	χ2(Y)=0.70, P = 0.76.	χ2(Y)=3.29, P = 0.07	χ2(Y)=4.42, P = 0.04
Children’s age	Z=0.10, P = 0.92	Z=1.83, P = 0.07	Z=2.28, P = 0.02
Age of HBV infection	Z=0.70, P = 0.49	Z=-1.49, P = 0.14	Z=-1.40, P = 0.15
Duration of HBV infection	Z=0.13, P = 0.89	Z=2.99, P = 0.002	Z=3.33, P < 0.001
Inflammation activity score (grading)	Z=0.23, P = 0.82	Z=1.56, P = 0.12	Z=1.76, P = 0.08
Staging	Z=0.88, P = 0.38	Z=1.46, P = 0.14	Z=1.69, P = 0.09
ALT activity before treatment	Z=-0.48, P = 0.63	Z=1.49, P = 0.14	Z=1.23, P = 0.23
Serum HBV DNA level	Z=-0.80, P = 0.07	Z=-3.29, P = 0.001	Z=-3.22, P = 0.001
Lamivudnie dose per kg of body weight	Z=-0.46, P = 0.64	Z=-1.75, P = 0.08	Z=-1.59, P = 0.11