1/5. Severe hepatitis due to HBV-HDV coinfection.Quadruple hepatic infections are not uncommon in human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) infected patients. Hepatotropic viruses behave differently in immunocompromised patients resulting in varied clinical and serological outcomes. Delta hepatitis, an important cause of acute hepatitis in intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) and hiv-infected patients, can present as coinfection or superinfection clinically, which influences the prognosis. Prevention of hepatitis D virus (HDV) coinfection is possible with hepatitis b virus (HBV) vaccination. No definitive medical treatment for HDV infection is known to be successful. Interestingly, liver transplantation carries a higher success rate in HDV/HBV infection then in HBV infection alone.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = coinfection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. Transplantation of hepatitis B surface antigen-positive livers into hepatitis b virus-positive recipients and the role of hepatitis delta coinfection.The scarcity of liver donors requires consideration of grafts from sources not previously used. allografts from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-carriers without a significant liver disease have been proposed for liver transplant recipients with hepatitis b virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Combination prophylaxis schemes against HBV post-liver transplantation (LT) recurrence are currently available; the efficacy of those schemes in HBV-related cirrhosis and HCC must be assessed. This report describes the allocation of HBsAg-positive grafts in three HBsAg-positive recipients, with HBV-related cirrhosis and evolving HCC lesions, two of them with hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) coinfection. patients were administered anti-hepatitis B immunoglobulins (HBIGs) and lamivudine in order to prevent HBV recurrence. In spite of anti-HBV prophylaxis, HBV infection did persist after LT in all patients (no serum clearance of HBsAg). HBV replication assessed by serum HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) presence was detected in the first month after LT in the 3 recipients. A prompt HDV reinfection with a clinical and histological pattern of hepatitis was observed in the 2 HBV / HDV coinfected recipients. In 1 of them, an evolving chronic hepatitis required a second LT. The non-HDV-infected patient showed an uneventful follow-up, but the lack of the neutralizing effect of HBIGs and the high risk of escape mutants forced the addition of adefovir-dipivoxil to lamivudine, in order to prevent viral variants and hepatitis recurrence. In conclusion, allografts from HBsAg-positive donors in HBsAg-positive recipients are associated with the persistence of the HBsAg after LT due to the failure of HBIG prophylaxis, even if lamivudine does inhibit virion production. This condition favors HDV replication and HDV hepatitis recurrence in coinfected patients. The allocation of HBsAg-positive grafts in HBsAg-positive recipients could be justified only in recipients without HDV coinfection and a combined prophylaxis with lamivudine and adefovir-dipivoxil is currently the best way to manage escape mutants in these recipients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = coinfection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. Fulminant hepatitis due to HBV/HDV coinfection.The diagnosis of acute viral hepatitis is based on a thorough history (with a detailed review of possible modes of transmission), consistent physical findings (in which stigmata of chronic liver disease are absent), and laboratory tests confirming the presence of acute hepatocyte damage. Specific etiologic entities can be identified by serologic testing. In some cases, infection by more than one hepatitis virus may be revealed. The occurrence of HBV/HDV coinfection may lead to typical, uncomplicated acute hepatitis. In some patients, however, the development of a prolonged prothrombin time and encephalopathy indicates the presence of fulminant disease. The management of patients with such disease usually requires admission to an intensive care unit in order to increase the likelihood that complications will be recognized at an early stage, when intervention might make a difference. Standard interventions include vigorous treatment of hypoglycemia, attention to electrolyte and acid-base disturbances, and antibiotic therapy for bacterial sepsis. Despite aggressive management by experienced teams, fatality rates remain exceedingly high: As many as 75% to 100% of patients with severe encephalopathy die. liver transplantation has been attempted in a number of cases. Its role remains ambiguous. survival rates of 50% to 60% have been reported, but selection bias may turn out to have contributed to this apparently favorable outcome. In the patient under discussion, results of a follow-up physical two months after discharge were entirely normal. Liver chemistries were within normal limits, but a test for HBsAg was still positive. During the course of the examination, the patient admitted to having accidentally pricked his skin nearly two months before the onset of his illness while holding a needle that a friend had used for the intravenous injection of heroin. One year later, HBsAg was no longer detectable, but tests for anti-HBc and anti-HBs were both positive. The anti-HBc positivity was attributable to IgG rather than IgG anti-HBc. A test for anti-HDV was negative.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.83333333333333keywords = coinfection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. A possible misdiagnosis in patients presenting with acute HBsAg-negative hepatitis: the role of hepatitis delta virus.We describe here two cases of delta hepatitis (a coinfection and a superinfection) presenting as acute HBsAg-negative hepatitis. The first patient, a parenteral drug abuser, had a biphasic course of the disease, with HBsAg detectable transiently only during the relapse. Testing for delta markers on stored sera gave evidence of HBV/HDV coinfection. The other patient, a hospital nurse, chronic asymptomatic carrier of HBsAg, developed fulminant hepatitis with the transient appearance of antibody to HBsAg. She survived massive liver necrosis, and serological analysis of HDV markers documented a hepatitis delta virus superinfection. These cases demonstrate the possible substantial repression of HBV gene products exerted by the replication of delta virus, with a likely misdiagnosis if delta markers are not determined in serial serum samples.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = coinfection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. Hepatitis D virus infection in children with acute or chronic hepatitis b virus infection in taiwan.To investigate the prevalence and clinical features of hepatitis D virus infection (HDV) in childhood, total antibody to hepatitis D antigen (anti-HD) in serum samples from 247 children (29 with acute hepatitis B, 68 with chronic hepatitis B, and 150 with asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers with normal liver function profiles) were studied using solid-phase competitive radioimmunoassay. Anti-HD was detected in three of the 29 children with acute hepatitis B and in only one of the 68 with chronic hepatitis B; none of the serum specimens from 150 asymptomatic carriers with normal liver function profile showed detectable anti-HD. All three children with HDV coinfection cleared HBsAg and seroconverted to anti-HBs, whereas one with superinfection finally had normal liver function without clearance of HBsAg. To identify possible sources of HDV infection, HBV markers and anti-HD in family members were also examined. One 4-month-old infant boy became infected through a blood transfusion from his hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive carrier father, who had anti-HD. A 4-month-old infant girl was infected through close contact with her HBeAg-negative carrier father, who had HDV superinfection. The infection sources remained undefined in another two patients. The mothers of these four children were seronegative for anti-HD, indicating that perinatal transmission is not the usual mode of HDV infection in taiwan. The natural course of either acute or chronic HBV infections in childhood in taiwan may be more closely related to HBV itself, or to some other yet unrecognized factor, rather than to HDV infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.16666666666667keywords = coinfection (Clic here for more details about this article) |