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Of adults with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection seen at a safety-net hospital, nearly 30% had cirrhosis at initial presentation, with older male patients being at the highest risk, according to a retrospective study published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology.
Cirrhosis is a serious consequence of HBV infection that is associated with a financial burden of $13 billion in the United States. Delays in HBV and cirrhosis diagnosis are often more common in the underserved population, leading to greater morbidity and mortality. To evaluate rates and predictors of cirrhosis and cirrhosis-related complications among adults with chronic HBV, researchers evaluated 329 consecutive adults with chronic HBV who were seen from July 2014 to May 2016 at gastroenterology clinics in a large safety-net hospital system that provides medical care to an ethnically diverse indigent population.
The authors concluded that, “among adults with chronic HBV at an ethnically diverse safety-net hospital system, nearly 30% of patients had cirrhosis at initial presentation, with the greatest risk seen in older male patients.”