Clinical features of chronic B hepatitis in children depending on treatment response

Background: chronic hepatitis is a common infection in all age groups. The optimization of therapeutic approaches is an important medical social and national economic issue. Aim: to describe the clinical and laboratory features of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in children depending on the efficacy of antiviral therapy. Patients and Methods: 31 children aged 3–17 years with НBeAg-negative CHB who were treated in the Children’s Infectious Department of N.A. Semashko Samara City Clinical Hospital No. 2 and then monitored in a children’s hepatological center were enrolled. These children received no prior antiviral treatment. T he efficacy of antivirals and CHB outcomes over a 6-year perio d were evaluated. Results: the changes in clinical and biochemical parameters in children with CHB depending on treatment response were analyzed. All children were prescribed with antiviral therapy according to Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Hepatitis B and C (2010). In 14 (45.2%) children who received antiviral therapy, sustained virologic response was achieved after 48 weeks. In these children, no cases of liver fibrosis were reported over a 6-year period. Meanwhile, in the group without sustained virologic response after antiviral therapy (n=17), 1 patient was diagnosed with liver fibrosis stage 1 and 2 patients were diagnosed with Child class A cirrhosis. Conclusion: despite countrywide HBV vaccination, the incidence of CHB is still high thus requiring the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. KEYWORDS: chronic hepatitis B, children, differential therapy, viral host response, prognosis. FOR CITATION: Churbakovа O.V., Akimkin V.G., Pechkurov D.V. Clinical features of chronic B hepatitis in children depending on treatment response. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2020;4(11):682–686. DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2020-4-11-682-686.