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. 2018 May 27;10(5):409-416.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i5.409.

Clinical epidemiology of chronic viral hepatitis B: A Tuscany real-word large-scale cohort study

Cristina Stasi  1 , Caterina Silvestri  1 , Roberto Berni  2 , Maurizia Rossana Brunetto  3 , Anna Linda Zignego  4 , Cristina Orsini  2 , Stefano Milani  5 , Liana Ricciardi  6 , Andrea De Luca  7 , Pierluigi Blanc  8 , Cesira Nencioni  9 , Donatella Aquilini  10 , Alessandro Bartoloni  11 , Giampaolo Bresci  12 , Santino Marchi  13 , Franco Filipponi  14 , Piero Colombatto  3 , Paolo Forte  5 , Andrea Galli  5 , Sauro Luchi  6 , Silvia Chigiotti  9 , Alessandro Nerli  10 , Giampaolo Corti  11 , Rodolfo Sacco  12 , Paola Carrai  14 , Angelo Ricchiuti  13 , Massimo Giusti  15 , Paolo Almi  16 , Andrea Cozzi  5 , Silvia Carloppi  17 , Giacomo Laffi  18 , Fabio Voller  1 , Francesco Cipriani  19
Affiliations

Clinical epidemiology of chronic viral hepatitis B: A Tuscany real-word large-scale cohort study

Cristina Stasi et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

Aim: To build a regional database of chronic patients to define the clinical epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients in the Tuscan public health care system.

Methods: This study used a cross-sectional cohort design. We evaluated chronic viral hepatitis patients with HBV referred to the outpatient services of 16 hospital units. Information in the case report forms included main demographic data, blood chemistry data, viral hepatitis markers, instrumental evaluations, and eligibility for treatment or ongoing therapy and liver transplantation.

Results: Of 4015 chronic viral hepatitis patients, 1096 (27.3%) were HBV infected. The case report form was correctly completed for only 833 patients (64% males, 36% females; mean age 50.1 ± 15.4). Of these HBV-infected patients, 73% were Caucasian, 21% Asian, 4% Central African, 1% North African and 1% American. Stratifying patients by age and nationality, we found that 21.7% of HBV-infected patients were aged < 34 years (only 2.8% were Italian). The most represented routes of transmission were nosocomial/dental procedures (23%), mother-to-child (17%) and sexual transmission (12%). The most represented HBV genotypes were D (72%) and A (14%). Of the patients, 24.7% of patients were HBeAg positive, and 75.3% were HBeAg negative. Of the HBV patients 7% were anti-HDV positive. In the whole cohort, 26.9% were cirrhotic (35.8% aged < 45 years), and 47% were eligible for or currently undergoing treatment, of whom 41.9 % were cirrhotic.

Conclusion: Only 27.3% of chronic viral hepatitis patients were HBV infected. Our results provide evidence of HBV infection in people aged < 34 years, especially in the foreign population not protected by vaccination. In our cohort of patients, liver cirrhosis was also found in young adults.

Keywords: Cirrhosis; Epidemiology; Hepatitis B virus infection; Liver fibrosis; Public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: Professor Brunetto MR reports grants and personal fees from BMS, personal fees from Gilead, outside the submitted work; Professor De Luca A reports grants from ViiV Healthcare, grants from Gilead, personal fees from ViiV Healthcare, personal fees from Gilead, personal fees from Merck Sharp and Dohme, personal fees from Janssen Cilag, outside the submitted work. No other authors have relevant conflicts of interests to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A total of 23 hepatology units were invited to enrol patients in the study, but 16 hepatology units have participated for a total of 4654 cases of chronic viral hepatitis. The diagnoses were specified for 4015 patients, of whom 1096 (27.3%) were hepatitis B virus infected. HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.
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