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Hepatitis B surface antigen carrier status and its correlation to gestational hypertension
William W K To1, Wai Cheung, Ka-Ming Mok
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, United Christian Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. wwkto@hutchcity.com
Objective:
To determine whether chronic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier status is associated with an increased incidence of gestational hypertension.
Methods:
A retrospective analysis of all deliveries in a regional obstetric unit over a 4-year period using a comprehensive obstetric database.
Results:
The data of 13,792 patients were analysed, of which 1340 (9.71%) were chronic HBsAg carriers. Contrary to our hypothesis, the overall incidence of gestational hypertension was significantly lower in the HBsAg positive group (2.01%) as compared to the negative group (3.58%) (P < 0.01, odds ratio (OR) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37-0.81). When comparing the incidence of severe preeclampsia, the difference remained significant (0.22 and 0.79%, respectively, P < 0.05, OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.08-0.88). There was otherwise no difference in the incidence of other major obstetric complications between the HBsAg positive and negative groups.
Conclusion:
The findings presented did not support a positive association between HbsAg carrier status and gestational hypertension. The data from the present study, and re-evaluation of similar published data, in fact suggest the contrary observation of a lower than normal incidence of gestational hypertension in HbsAg positive mothers.