Evaluation of the long-term outcomes of patients with hepatitis delta.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the long-term outcomes of hepatitis delta patients, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on clinical and laboratory data.

METHODOLOGY: A retrospective evaluation was conducted on patients diagnosed with hepatitis delta. The patients were formed into four groups: no-treatment, pegylated interferon, oral antiviral, and combined treatment.

RESULTS

A total of 93 patients, 48 women and 45 men, were evaluated in the study. The mean follow-up time was 4.38 ± 2.7 years. Of those, 43 were in the no-treatment group, 22 received combination therapy including pegylated interferon and oral antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis B (the combined treatment group), 19 received only oral antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis B (the oral antiviral group), and nine received pegylated interferon (the pegylated interferon group). HDV-RNA negativity was observed in 67% (6/9) of patients in the pegylated interferon group and 33% (5/15) of patients in the combined treatment group. HDV-RNA became spontaneously negative in one of the two patients in the no-treatment group, while no patient in the oral antiviral group became HDV-RNA negative. Seven patients were diagnosed with cirrhosis and one with HCC. Three patients had undergone liver transplants. There were no fatalities among patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Pegylated interferon therapy has been demonstrated to have partial efficacy in the treatment of delta hepatitis, while oral antivirals have been shown to offer no additional benefit. Although negative HDV-RNA was achieved in some patients treated with pegylated interferon, pegylated interferon treatment could not eliminate the risk of cirrhosis and HCC.