Fulminant Hepatitis B | Prognostic Factors

 

Prognostic factors for poor survival identified on multivariate analysis:

(1) low Factor V levels

(2) normal or slightly increased serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level

(3) HBsAg detectable in the serum using radioimmunoassay (RIA)

(4) older age

 

For the implementation the following values have been used to indicate poor prognosis:

(1) Factor V < 20% of normal

(2) serum alpha fetoprotein <50 ng/mL (2.5 times the upper limit of normal)

(3) age >= 45 years

 

where:

• The age range for survivors was 30 +/- 12 years. the age range for nonsurvivors was 45 +/- 19 years.

• The reference range for AFP was <= 20 ng/mL. The mean for nonsurvivors was 16 ng/mL and for survivors was 140 ng/mL but the observed ranges were large.

• The absence of detectable HBsAg is a favorable prognostic sign, so the presence of detectable HBsAg is unfavorable.