Clinical Evaluation of the Progression of Liver Disease in Patients Coinfected With HBV and HDV in the Western Amazon Region of Brazil.

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, an estimated 296 million individuals are chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), with approximately 5% also coinfected with hepatitis delta virus (HDV). In Brazil, HBV and HDV are endemic in the states of the Western Amazon. This study is aimed at characterizing a cohort of patients coinfected with HBV and HDV and comparing their clinical and epidemiological profiles with those of HBV monoinfected individuals. Methods: The study involved a retrospective clinical analysis of individuals monoinfected with HBV and coinfected with HDV, conducted between 2017 and 2018 in Rondônia, Brazil. Results: A total of 324 patients were enrolled in the study, comprising 302 individuals with HBV monoinfection and 22 with HBV-HDV coinfection. Patients with HDV exhibited significantly more clinical signs of advanced liver disease. Using APRI and FIB-4 scores with cut-off values established for HBV, over 40% of HDV-infected patients had values indicative of advanced liver fibrosis, compared to 5%-10% in the HBV monoinfected group. Across all evaluated parameters of liver disease, HDV patients displayed more severe characteristics, with 45.5% already showing signs of advanced liver disease at the time of enrollment. Conclusion: Our study underscores the importance of the clinical analysis of hepatitis delta as a more aggressive disease model compared to hepatitis B in the population of the Western Brazilian Amazon, highlighting its significance as a public health concern in the region.