HBeAg Negativity Is Associated With More Advanced Liver Fibrosis in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B: A Propensity Score-Matching Analysis

Background: Serum hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status is associated with the progression of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The authors aimed to investigate the relationship between HBeAg status and liver pathology in CHB patients. Methods: A total of 683 treatment-naive CHB patients who had undergone liver biopsy were retrospectively enrolled from 2 medical centers. Propensity score-matching (PSM) method was performed to adjust the imbalance of baseline confounders between HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Results: HBeAg-negative CHB patients (n=338) exhibited more advanced liver fibrosis than HBeAg-positive CHB patients (n=345) before PSM (P
Source: Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: LIVER, PANCREAS & BILIARY TRACT: Original Article Source Type: research