Circumstances for The Diagnosis of Viral Hepatitis B at The Internal Medicine Department of The Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital in Lomé (Togo)

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the different circumstances of discovery of viral hepatitis B in the Internal Medicine Department of the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital in Lomé. Method: This is a retrospective study conducted from January 1st 2017 to December 31st 2019 at the Medical Clinic and the B Medicine of this hospital center. Results: During the study period, 4078 patients were received at the Medical Clinic and Medicine B. The HBs antigen was positive in 105 patients who had never been tested, representing a seroprevalence of 2.57%. The mean age of the patients was 36.37 years (extremes: 17 and 63 years) and the sex ratio (M/F) was 2, with the age range of 20 to 39 years being the most represented (61.90%). Viral hepatitis B was acute in 5 patients (4.76%) and chronic in 100 patients (95.23%). Infection was discovered by voluntary screening in 9 patients (8.85%) and incidentally diagnosed in 34 patients (32.38%). Symptoms were found in 43 patients (40.95%) and complications in 19 patients (18.09%) including decompensated cirrhosis of the liver (N=13) and hepatocellular carcinoma (N=6). The modes of decompensation of cirrhosis were oedemato-ascitic syndrome and jaundice. Only 15 patients (15%) in the chronic phase of infection were able to achieve a viral load. The mean viral load was 36,319,839.86IU/ml with extremes ranging from 37 to 544,630,994IU/ml. Conclusion: This study shows that the modes of revelation of viral hepatitis B in hospital settings in Lomé are dominated by clinical manifestations and chance discovery.