Critical flicker frequency improves after alcohol detoxification and is associated with liver stiffness

Table 3 Patient characteristics of the detoxification cohort (n = 57) for patients with critical flicker frequency measurements before and after detoxification (n = 44)

Parameter	Before detox (n = 57)1		Before (n = 44)2		After (n = 44)2		P value
	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD
CFF (Hz)	41.8	5.9	40.7	5.4	43.7	4.7	0.0001
CFF below 39 Hz (%)	34		40		14
Sex (male, %)	70.7		70.5
Age (years)	50.6	12.9	50.4	11.8
Alcohol consumption (g/day)	136.7	120.3	132.2	100.8
Duration of drinking (years)	16.7	9.7	16.8	9.4
Packyears	20.2	20.8	22.1	19.4
HE (1 or 0, %)	5.2		2.3
BMI (kg/m2)	26.7	5.1	26.3	5.8
AST (U/L)	96	139	90	88	73	77	0.0591
ALT (U/L)	71	70	66	49	67	52	0.0379
GGT (U/L)	335	497	371	554	310	419	0.0386
AP (U/L)	105	54	107	54	80	42	0.0001
Bilirubin total (μmol/L)	30.4	97.5	15.4	22.1	10.1	8.6	0.2091
Quick (%)	104.6	19.2	106.6	17.0	106.2	18.2	0.3481
INR	0.98	0.18	0.96	0.14	0.96	0.16	0.5897
Urea (mmol/L)	4.18	2.55	3.50	1.56	4.03	1.42	0.4524
Creatinine (μmol/L)	66.3	28.3	60.1	17.7	75.1	15.9	0.0010
Sodium (mmol/L)	136	15	138	4	139	4	0.0466
Potassium (mmol/L)	4.0	0.5	3.9	0.4	4.0	0.3	0.4057
Lipase (U/L)	47.3	26.7	49.7	28.0	142.3	229.5	0.2654
PTT (seconds)	35.8	5.0	35.3	4.4	36.1	5.1	0.2407
Hemoglobin (g/L)	147	44	141	13	134	18	0.0039
Hematocrit (%)	41.3	8.1	40.3	3.9	38.5	5.2	0.0399
Erythrocytes (/pL)	4.3	0.6	4.3	0.5	4.0	0.6	0.0044
Leukocytes (/nL)	8.0	2.7	7.7	2.7	7.6	2.2	0.2333
Platelets (/nL)	224	87	222	78	210	69	0.3502
Ferritin (μg/L)	470	550	536	605	410	463	0.0527
CRP (mg/L)	75	168	70	171	126	195	0.9390
Alcohol (g/L)	1.05	1.19	1.16	1.24	0.00	0.01	0.0003
Spleen size (cm)	10.3	0.9	10.3	0.8
Ascites (1 or 0, %)	9.1		7.3
Steatosis hepatis (0-3)	0.83	0.71	0.85	0.66
Signs of cirrhosis (1 or 0, %)	18.5		15.0
Liver stiffness (kPa)	12.1	15.8	10.7	14.5	6.5	4.4	0.1015

¹Total.

²Follow-up after detox.

CFF: Critical flicker frequency; HE: Hepatic encephalopathy; BMI: Body mass index; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; INR: International normalized ratio; PTT: Partial thromboplastin time; CRP: C-reactive protein.