Efficacy of N-acetylcysteine vs dexamethasone in preventing postembolization syndrome post-transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma: A randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of participants with hepatocellular carcinoma

Baseline characteristic	Total (n = 56)	NAC (n = 28)	DEXA (n = 28)	P value
Male	47 (83.9)	24 (85.7)	23 (82.1)	1.0004
Age (years)	59.7 ± 8.7	59.0 ± 6.6	60.3 ± 10.4	0.2593
Body mass index (kg/m2)	24.3 ± 3.9	24.5 ± 4.5	24.1 ± 3.4	0.7542
Underlying diseases
Hypertension	25 (44.6)	13 (46.4)	12 (42.9)	0.7881
Diabetes mellitus	14 (25.0)	3 (10.7)	11 (39.3)	0.0294
Dyslipidemia	7 (12.5)	1 (3.6)	6 (21.4)	0.1014
Etiology of cirrhosis
Chronic hepatitis B	20 (35.7)	11 (39.3)	9 (32.14)	0.5771
Chronic hepatitis C	23 (41.1)	13 (46.4)	10 (35.7)	0.4151
Alcohol	19 (33.9)	11 (39.3)	8 (28.6)	0.3971
MASLD	10 (17.9)	2 (7.1)	8 (28.6)	0.0784
Child-Pugh score				1.0004
A (5-6)	52 (92.9)	26 (92.9)	26 (92.9)
B (7-8)	4 (7.1)	2 (7.1)	2 (7.1)
MELD score				0.7781
< 10	37 (66.1)	18 (64.3)	19 (67.9)
≥ 10	19 (33.9)	10 (35.7)	9 (32.1)
MELD score	9.0 ± 1.8	9.2 ± 2.0	8.8 ± 1.6	0.6113
MELD-Na	9.8 ± 4.4	9.4 ± 4.3	10.2 ± 4.5	0.4592
ALBI grade				0.0944
1	5 (8.9)	4 (14.3)	1 (3.6)
2	30 (53.6)	11 (39.3)	19 (67.9)
3	21 (37.5)	13 (46.4)	8 (28.6)
ALBI score	-2.3 ± 0.5	-2.2 ± 0.6	-2.4 ± 0.4	0.2623
BCLC stage B				0.2171
B1	14 (25.0)	9 (32.1)	5 (17.9)
B2	42 (75.0)	19 (67.9)	23 (82.1)
Maximum tumor size (cm)	6.2 ± 3.7	5.2 ± 2.0	7.2 ± 4.6	0.1323
Tumor number				0.3264
1	8 (14.3)	2 (7.1)	6 (21.4)
2-5	37 (66.1)	21 (75.0)	16 (57.1)
> 5	11 (19.6)	5 (17.9)	6 (21.4)
Tumor size plus number (Beyond up to 7)	39 (69.6)	18 (64.3)	21 (75.0)	0.3831
AST (U/L)	68.1 ± 40.3	75.5 ± 43.9	60.6 ± 35.5	0.2483
ALT (U/L)	44.1 ± 35.2	48.5 ± 33.3	39.6 ± 37.0	0.0703
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.9 ± 0.5	0.9 ± 0.6	0.8 ± 0.5	0.7243
Albumin (mg/dL)	3.6 ± 0.5	3.5 ± 0.6	3.7 ± 0.4	0.1812
Mitomycin dose (mL)	14.5 ± 6.1	11.4 ± 6.1	17.5 ± 4.4	< 0.0013
Lipiodol dose (mL)	9.4 ± 5.6	8.4 ± 7.3	10.4 ± 3.0	0.0313

¹χ² test.

²Independent t-test.

³Mann-Whitney U test.

⁴Fisher’s exact test were used to compared baseline characteristics between the N-acetylcysteine and dexamethasone group.

Data are presented as n (%) or mean ± SD. Significant level was set at P value < 0.05. ALBI: Albumin-bilirubin; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC stage B: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B; DEXA: Dexamethasone; MASLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; MELD-Na: Model for end-stage liver disease-Sodium; NAC: N-acetylcysteine.