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Fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C patients with occult hepatitis B co-infection

Chee-Kin Hui1, Eva Lau, Helen Wu

  • 1Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. ckhui23@gmail.com

Journal of Clinical Virology : the Official Publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
|August 17, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients does not appear to accelerate liver fibrosis progression. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm this finding regarding HBV/HCV co-infection.

Area of Science:

  • Hepatology
  • Virology
  • Gastroenterology

Background:

  • Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, defined by detectable HBV DNA without hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), can coexist with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
  • The impact of occult HBV infection on liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic HCV remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between occult HBV infection and the rate of liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic HCV infection.
  • To compare the incidence of fibrosis progression and development of severe fibrosis (stages 3-4) in HCV patients with and without occult HBV infection.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of 74 consecutive anti-HCV positive patients.
  • Diagnosis of occult HBV infection via serum HBV DNA detection using PCR.
  • Assessment of liver fibrosis progression using serial liver biopsies (median 2 per patient) over a median follow-up of 57.7 months.

Main Results:

  • 31 patients (41.9%) were diagnosed with occult HBV infection.
  • Fibrosis progression occurred in 35.5% of patients with occult HBV infection versus 27.9% without (p=0.608).
  • Progression to severe fibrosis (stage 3-4) was observed in 19.4% with occult HBV infection versus 18.6% without (p=0.946).

Conclusions:

  • Occult HBV co-infection in chronic HCV patients does not appear to significantly alter the rate of liver fibrosis progression or the development of severe fibrosis.
  • Larger, prospective studies are warranted to definitively establish the role of occult HBV infection in HCV-related liver disease progression.

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