title: Acute exacerbation in chronic type B hepatitis: comparison between HBeAg and antibody-positive patients.
abstract: The incidence, clinicopathological features and etiology of acute exacerbation occurring in patients with chronic type B hepatitis were assessed prospectively among 385 patients who had HBeAg and 279 who had anti-HBe in serum. During an average follow-up of 23.5 months, acute exacerbations occurred in 197 HBeAg-positive patients and in 56 anti-HBe positive patients, with a calculated annual incidence of 28.6 and 10.3%, respectively (p less than 0.001). The clinical and laboratory findings of acute exacerbations were similar in the HBeAg-positive and anti-HBe positive patients. The mean serum bilirubin and alpha-fetoprotein levels were higher in anti-HBe positive patients (p less than 0.01), but actual differences were small. The histologic features of acute exacerbations were also similar in the HBeAg-positive patients and anti-HBe positive patients. Lobular alterations were the main histologic findings; in addition, one-fourth of patients had bridging necrosis and one-fourth had piecemeal necrosis. Spontaneous reactivation of hepatitis B was the major cause of these exacerbations in both HBeAg-positive patients (91.5%) as well as anti-HBe positive patients (62.5%). Hepatitis delta virus superinfection accounted for a higher percentage of exacerbations in anti-HBe positive patients (14.3%) than in HBeAg-positive cases (6.5%). Hepatitis A and possibly non-A, non-B virus superinfections also contributed to some episodes of exacerbation. Thus, acute exacerbations of disease occurred more frequently in HBeAg-positive patients than in anti-HBe positive patients with chronic type B hepatitis, but the clinicopathological features and etiologies were similar.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000276:immunology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009336:Necrosis / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D001663:Bilirubin