The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2019 , Vol 61 , Num 6
Long term follow-up of children with chronic hepatitis B: a single center experience
İnci Yaman Bajin 1 ,Hülya Demir 2 ,İnci Nur Saltık Temizel 2 ,Hasan Özen 2 ,Aysel Yüce 2
1 Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
2 Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2019.06.004 Yaman Bajin İ, Demir H, Saltık Temizel İN, Özen H, Yüce A. Long term follow-up of children with chronic hepatitis B: a single center experience. Turk J Pediatr 2019; 61: 846-851.

Chronic Hepatitis B infection is an important clinical issue because of the associated risk of developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Especially in children, there is no consensus about the optimal treatment. Clinical features and long-term outcomes of 165 children diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B at our institution between January 1993 and June 2012 were analysed retrospectively. Patients were divided into four groups according to their treatment protocols. The first group received Interferon (IFN) only, the second group started lamivudine (LMV) first then IFN+LMV combined and then continued with LMV only, the third group started with IFN+LMV combined then continued with LMV only and the fourth group received LMV only. After a median follow-up period of 7 years (1-19 years) the highest e-seroconversion (the loss of HBeAg followed by gain of anti- HBe antibody) rate, biochemical and virological response was observed with combined (IFN+LMV) treatment regimens. Patients with higher ALT levels were better treatment responders (p: 0.003). Identification of the patients who need to be treated in order to determine the most effective therapy with optimal treatment duration is important to reduce the risk of developing future complications like cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Keywords : chronic hepatitis B, treatment, children

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