Gender differences in patient receiving liver transplantation for viral hepatitis.
BACKGROUND
The course of viral hepatitis shows wide interindividual differences, ranging from asymptomatic disease to liver failure. Only limited data on gender differences in patients undergoing liver transplantation (OLT) exist. We studied the gender distribution in patients who underwent liver transplantation for viral hepatitis.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of 368 patients who underwent OLT for viral hepatitis-associated acute or chronic liver failure. In 96 of them, additional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was present at transplantation. Gender ratios of the different hepatitis virus infections and in relation to HCC were evaluated.


RESULTS
Significantly more males than females underwent OLT for chronic HBV. In contrast, patients after OLT for fulminant HBV were more frequently females. In patients transplanted for chronic HCV or HDV, no significant gender differences were found. However, men presented more frequently with HCC in both groups of chronic liver disease.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a gender difference in HBV infection with more women developing fulminant hepatic failure in acute HBV while more men progressed to end-stage liver disease in chronic HBV. The role of gender in chronic HCV and HDV infection was less pronounced, except for a male predominance among patients with HCC.
Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
K
K
Rifai
J
J
Hadem
J
J
Wiegand
A
A
Potthoff
S
S
Pischke
J
J
Klempnauer
C
C
Strassburg
H
H
Wedemeyer
M P
MP
Manns
H L
HL
Tillmann
D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014600:Utilization Review