Comparison of demographical, clinicopathological and serological characteristics of chronic delta infection with chronic viral hepatitis B infection

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a serious cause of liver related morbidity and mortality. Coexistent infection with HDV tends to aggravate the course of hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated liver disease. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HDV infection among patients chronically infected with HBV in Elazig region which is located in Eastern Turkey.A group of 282 chronic HBV infected patients was investigated for the study. Anti-HDV seropositivity was investigasted in all patients. The anti-HDV positive cases were further tested for HDV RNA. Severity of liver disease was assessed by liver biopsy.Of 282 chronic HBV cases 192 were males (68,1%) and 90 were females (31,9%). The mean age was 43,8±12,7 (between 18 and 73 years). Anti-HDV was positive in 45,5% of the patients (128/282). Among the 128 anti-HDV positive cases 116 were checked for HDV RNA and 56,9% were positive (66/116). Chronic HDV infection rate was at least 23,4% in the whole study group (66/282). There were 83 cirrhotic patients (29,4%) in the study group. Anti-HDV and HDV RNA seroprevalence was higher in the cirrhotic group (61,4% and 42,2%, respectively).No significant relationship was found between anti-HDV seropositivity and demographic factors such as age, sex, and operation or transfusion history except family history. HDV RNA positive patients had significantly higher ALT and lower albumin levels when compared to HDV RNA negative cases. HDV RNA positive patients had also significantly higher fibrosis stage.These findings demonstrated that HDV infection is endemic and still a serious problem in Elazig region of Eastern Turkey. HDV infection seems significantly related to the family exposure and increases the risk of severe liver fibrosis in this region .Key words: Chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis delta virus, cirrhosis.