Autoimmune thrombocytopenia in response to splenectomy in cirrhotic patients with accompanying hepatitis C

Table 1 Characteristics of the patients (n, mean±SD)

	Type C cirrhosis	Type C cirrhosissubmitted to splenectomy	Non-C cirrhosis
Number	17	24	20
Age (yr)	62.6 ± 10.6	63.0 ± 7.1	61.8 ± 9.5
Gender
Female	10	15	10
Male	7	9	10
Child’s classification
A	11	13	9
B	4	6	7
C	2	4	4
Association of HCC	4	7	5

Non-C cirrhosis consisted of 10 hepatitis B, 4 autoimmune hepatitis, 3 alcoholic and 3 idiopathic cirrhosis. HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma.

Table 2 Laboratory findings in the type C cirrhotic and non-C cirrhotic patients (n, mean±SD)

	Type C cirrhosis	Type C cirrhosissubmitted to splenectomy	Non-C cirrhosis
RBC (×104/μL)	379 ± 61	374 ± 65	381 ± 63
WBC (/μL)	3 652 ± 1 080	5 855 ± 1 5951	3 832 ± 1 048
Platelet (×104/μL)	8.2 ± 2.9	16.1 ± 4.91	9.2 ± 3.4
> 15.0	0	9	1
10.0-14.9	5	6	6
< 9.9	19	2	13
ALT (IU/L)	58.2 ± 25.3	51.1 ± 35.2	40.6 ± 23.8
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	1.4 ± 1.2	0.9 ± 0.31	2.3 ± 1.8
Albumin (g/L)	37 ± 4	37 ± 6	34 ± 8
r-globulin (g/L)	21 ± 0.5	22 ± 6	20 ± 9
IgG (mg/ dL)	2 454 ± 693	no assay	2 220 ± 877
HCV RNA (kcopies/mL)	523 ± 403	198 ± 2512
Splenic index (cm2)
-19	6cases		5 cases
20-29	11cases		9 cases
30 – 39	6 cases		5 cases
40-	1case		3 cases

ALT: alanine aminotransferase. 1: Significant difference compared with the type C cirrhosis with an intact spleen and non-C cirrhosis. 2: Significant difference compared with the type C cirrhosis with an intact spleen.

Table 3 Immunological markers in patients with type C cirrhosis (mean±SD)

	Type C cirrhosis	Type C cirrhosissubmitted to splenectomy
Neopterin (pmol/mL)	8.3 ± 3.2	5.2 ± 2.5b
sIL2R (U/mL)	850.7 ± 175.9	877.2 ± 458.6
CD4 (%)	43.1 ± 8.6	33.4 ± 7.6
CD8 (%)	27.6 ± 7.9	29.6 ± 9.6
CD4/CD8 ratio	1.8 ± 0.9	1.3 ± 0.4a

sIL2R: Soluble interleukin-2 receptor. ^aP < 0.05 vs type C cirrhosis with an intact spleen; ^bP < 0.01 vs type C cirrhosis with an intact spleen.