Study of hepatic histomorphology in HBeAg+ and HBeAg− patients with CHB: Experience from Bangladesh

ObjectiveTo compare Knodell and HAI scores in patients with wild type and pre-core/core promoter mutant CHB to see if there is any difference in severity of liver injury between these two types of HBV.MethodsWe did percutaneous liver biopsies of 155 CHB patients. Of them 102 (65.8%) were infected wild type HBV and the rest 53 (34.2%) were infected with pre-core/core promoter mutant CHB.Results11/53 (20.8%) patients with pre-core/core promoter mutant CHB had moderate to severe CH (HAI score 8-18). In contrast, moderate to severe CH was seen in 19/102 (18.6%) patients with wild type CHB. Fibrosis score was >2 in 15/53 (28.3%) pre-core/core promoter mutant CHB as opposed to 20/102 (19.6%) patients with wild type CHB.ConclusionsThe study shows that pre-core/core promoter mutant HBV produces more severe histological liver disease compared to wild type HBV.