Evolving clinical landscape of chronic hepatitis B: A multicenter Italian study

✍ Scribed by Tommaso Stroffolini; Piero L. Almasio; Evangelista Sagnelli; Alfonso Mele; Giovanni Battista Gaeta

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 81 KB
• Volume: 81
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.21643

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the characteristics of chronic hepatitis B with special reference to the geographical origin of the patients and to the prevalence of HBeAg and viral and non‐viral co‐factors of liver disease. A cross‐sectional multicenter survey was undertaken, which enrolled 1,386 HBsAg chronic carriers observed consecutively in 21 referral centers over a 6‐month period. The prevalence of HBeAg in patients was 11%; the presence of HBeAg was associated independently with a younger age and co‐infection with HIV. Anti‐HDV, anti‐HCV, or anti‐HIV antibodies were detected in 8.1%, 6.5%, and 2%, respectively. However, among the patients first diagnosed during the study period (incident cases), 14.3% were anti‐HDV positive. Seven percent of the patients were immigrants; they were younger than Italian patients and 18% were HBeAg positive; no difference was observed in the prevalence of anti‐HDV, anti‐HCV, or anti‐HIV antibodies. The presence of cirrhosis was associated independently with an age >52 years, the presence of anti‐HDV or anti‐HCV, alcohol use >4 drinks/day, and a high BMI. The clinical epidemiology of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection shows a dynamic profile, with the potential for re‐emergence of cases with HBeAg or anti‐HDV and an emerging impact of metabolic factors on the evolution of liver disease. J. Med. Virol. 81:1999–2006, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.