Hepatic decompensation associated with hepatitis B e antigen clearance in chronic type B hepatitis.
To examine hepatic decompensation associated with acute exacerbation preceding hepatitis B e antigen clearance in chronic type B hepatitis, 376 patients with chronic hepatitis who were hepatitis B e antigen-positive were prospectively studied for up to 7 yr (mean 25 mo). Among the 165 patients who underwent hepatitis B e antigen clearance, 4 patients experienced hepatic decompensation and one of them eventually developed hepatic encephalopathy and died. The incidence of hepatic decompensation associated with hepatitis B e antigen clearance was 2.4%. We suggest that such an event in previously unrecognized chronic hepatitis B carriers could have been erroneously interpreted as acute or subacute hepatic failure, and that it might have been the result of a stronger enhancement of the host immune response.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens