Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Acute Hepatitis A in Korea: A Nationwide Multicenter Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of acute hepatitis A during a recent outbreak in Korea. Data of patients diagnosed with acute hepatitis A from 2007 to 2009 were collected from 21 tertiary hospitals retrospectively. Their demographic, clinical, and serological ch...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kwon, So Young, Park, Sang Hoon, Yeon, Jong Eun, Jeong, Sook Hyang, Kwon, Oh Sang, Lee, Jin Woo, Kim, Hong Soo, Seo, Yeon Seok, Kim, Young Seok, Sohn, Joo Hyun, Yim, Hyung Joon, Choi, Jong Young, Lee, Myung Seok, Kweon, Young Oh, Cheong, Jae Youn, Kim, Haak Cheoul, Lee, Heon Ju, Baik, Soon Koo, An, Hyonggin, Byun, Kwan Soo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3924005/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24550653
http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.2.248
Descripción
Sumario:The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of acute hepatitis A during a recent outbreak in Korea. Data of patients diagnosed with acute hepatitis A from 2007 to 2009 were collected from 21 tertiary hospitals retrospectively. Their demographic, clinical, and serological characteristics and their clinical outcomes were analyzed. A total of 4,218 patients (mean age 33.3 yr) were included. The median duration of admission was 9 days. The mean of the highest ALT level was 2,963 IU/L, total bilirubin was 7.3 mg/dL, prothrombin time INR was 1.3. HBsAg was positive in 3.7%, and anti-HCV positive in 0.7%. Renal insufficiency occurred in 2.7%, hepatic failure in 0.9%, relapsing hepatitis in 0.7%, and cholestatic hepatitis in 1.9% of the patients. Nineteen patients (0.45%) died or were transplanted. Complications of renal failure or prolonged cholestasis were more frequent in patients older than 30 yr. In conclusion, most patients with acute hepatitis A recover uneventfully, however, complication rates are higher in patients older than 30 yr than younger patients. Preventive strategies including universal vaccination in infants and active immunization of hepatitis A to adult population should be considered for prevention of community-wide outbreaks of hepatitis A in Korea. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]