Medical expert of the article
New publications
The consequences of hepatitis B
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The most frequent outcome of hepatitis B is recovery with complete restoration of liver function. As with hepatitis A, it is also possible to recover from an anatomical defect (liver fibrosis) or the formation of various complications from the biliary tract and gastrointestinal tract. These consequences of hepatitis B practically do not differ from those in hepatitis A.
There is evidence in the literature that acute hepatitis B ends with the formation of chronic hepatitis in 1.8-18.8% of cases. However, these data can not be considered definitive, since studies on this issue have been conducted mainly without the definition of all serological markers of viral hepatitis A, B, C, D, etc.
To address the issue of the possibility of forming chronic hepatitis in the outcome of acute hepatitis B, a comprehensive study of all specific markers for the laboratory identification of hepatitis A, B and D (anti-HAV IgM, HBsAg, anti-HBc IgM, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HDV ) in all children who were on inpatient treatment for the last 5 years with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis B.
As a result of a comprehensive examination and dynamic observation of the final diagnosis, the patients were distributed as follows: 70% had acute hepatitis B, 16.7 had co-infection with hepatitis B and D, 8 had primary chronic latent hepatitis B and 5.3% - Acute hepatitis A against a background of chronic HBV infection. In no case of acute, manifest-flowing hepatitis B, there is no formation of chronic hepatitis.
In practical work in all cases of chronic hepatitis B, which would appear to be the result of an acute infection, it is necessary to exclude hepatitis of another etiology against the background of latent HBV infection. This approach will avoid the erroneous idea of the development of chronic hepatitis in the outcome of acute manifest Hepatitis B.
[