Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B is one of the most common chronic viral infections worldwide, especially in developing countries. The
insufficient treatment of the disease increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which impose heavy costs to the patient
and the society. Different studies evaluated several protocols for the treatment of the disease.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the response rate of the different treatments in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 89 patients with CHB who were referred to Infectious Diseases Clinics during 2004 to
2009 were studied. Serological and biochemical outcomes to the different treatments were evaluated. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16.
Results: CHB was more frequent in men (74.2%) than women (25.8%). The mean age of the patients was 36 ± 1.36 years. Fifty-three patients
(59.6%) had active CHB while 36 (40.4%) were asymptomatic carriers. Serologic and biochemical responses to the treatment were 50% and
69.44%, respectively. However, 50% of the patients with positive HBeAg showed serologic response to the treatment, 37.5% showed HBeAb as
well as reduced amounts of HBeAg, and 12.5% just showed reduced amounts of HBeAg. Patients treated by lamivudine showed the highest
serologic response rate (75%).
Conclusions: Serologic and biochemical response to the different treatments in the patients were better than other similar studies.
Besides, it is recommended to begin antiviral therapy against CHB infection with lamivudine.