Clinical features of acute viral hepatitis B in Korea: a multi-center study.
10.3350/kjhep.2011.17.4.307
- Author:
Hye Jin CHOI
1
;
Soon Young KO
;
Won Hyeok CHOE
;
Yeon Seok SEO
;
Ji Hoon KIM
;
Kwan Soo BYUN
;
Young Seok KIM
;
Seung Up KIM
;
Soon Koo BAIK
;
Jae Youn CHEONG
;
Tae Yeob KIM
;
Oh Sang KWON
;
Jeong Han KIM
;
Chang Hong LEE
;
So Young KWON
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. syko406@naver.com
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Multicenter Study ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords:
Acute hepatitis B;
Prevalence;
Prognosis
- MeSH:
Acute Disease;
Adult;
Alanine Transaminase/blood;
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use;
Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood;
Bilirubin/blood;
DNA, Viral/analysis;
Female;
Hepatitis B/*diagnosis/drug therapy/epidemiology;
Hepatitis B Antibodies/blood;
Hepatitis B e Antigens/blood/immunology;
Humans;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Retrospective Studies
- From:The Korean Journal of Hepatology
2011;17(4):307-312
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: The incidence of Hepatitis B has significantly declined since the introduction of an HBV vaccination program. The aim of this study was to investigate recent clinical features of acute viral hepatitis B (AVH-B) in Korea. METHODS: A total of 2241 patients with acute viral hepatitis were enrolled and their data were collected from nine medical-centers between January 2006 and December 2009. RESULTS: One hundred nineteen (5.3%) of the 2241 were diagnosed as AVH-B. Among 78 patients with AVH-B whose data were analyzed, 50 were male, and the mean age was 38.6 years. In an initial test, mean AST, ALT and total-bilirubin levels were 1296.2 IU/L, 2109.6 IU/L and 9.3 mg/dl, respectively. Positivity frequencies for HBeAg and anti-HBe were 55.1% and 67.9%, respectively, and the mean HBV DNA level was 5.2 log10 copies/ml. The mean length of hospitalization was 11.6 days. During follow-up, AST, ALT and total bilirubin levels were normalized or near-normalized in all patients without serious complications. Sixty-three of 66 (95.4%) patients showed HBsAg loss and 37 (56.1%) patients showed HBsAg seroconversion. Only 3 patients (4.5%) showed persistent hepatitis B viremia. There was no case of death or liver transplantation. Nine patients (11.3%) had received anti-viral agents and their clinical outcomes were not significantly different from those of patients treated without antiviral agents. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of AVH-B among acute hepatitis patients is relatively low in Korea. AVH-B infection can be cured without complications in almost all patients, regardless of antiviral treatment.
