Abstract
Background and Aims: It is uncertain if a patient's lamivudine response after HBeAg loss is durable. In Korean chronic hepatitis B patients, the relapse rate is high after termination of lamivudine therapy for patients with HBeAg loss. We evaluated the factors related to relapse in chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg loss after lamivudine therapy. Methods: A total of 132 chronic hepatitis B patients, who initially had HBeAg and did not have decompensated features, were analyzed in this study. These patients lost the HBeAg after lamivudine therapy and then their therapy was stopped. Post-treatment serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), HBeAg, anti-HBe and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA were monitored until relapse. Results: Seventy-five patients relapsed (cumulative relapse rate: 56% at 6 months). Upon univariate analysis, the factors of age, serum total bilirubin, presence of anti-HBe after HBeAg loss, and the duration of additional lamivudine therapy after HBeAg loss were associated with relapse. Upon multivariate analysis, older age, a higher serum total bilirubin and the shorter duration of additional lamivudine therapy were significant risk factors for relapse. Patterns of relapse were the re-elevation of ALT, re-emergence of HBV DNA (69 patients) and reappearance of HBeAg (55 patients). Conclusions: To prevent relapse in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection after lamivudine therapy, age and serum bilirubin level of patients as well as a prolonged duration of additional lamivudine therapy should be considered.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1838-1842 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Australia) |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2005 Dec |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Chronic hepatitis B
- Lamivudine
- Relapse
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hepatology
- Gastroenterology