Occult hepatitis B virus infection is not associated with disease progression of chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Figure 1 At study enrollment, the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection in blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. The prevalence of HBV DNA in blood among 174 patients was 32 (18.4%) by nested PCR; 15 of 83 (18.1%) were positive in the chronic hepatitis C group, 11 of 47 (23.4%) in the liver cirrhosis group, and 6 of 44 (13.6%) in the HCC group. The difference was not significant. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Figure 2 Effect of occult hepatitis B virus infection positivity on disease progression and hepatocellular carcinoma development. A: Cumulative incidence of disease progression defined as development of liver cirrhosis or HCC, worsening of Child Pugh class (A→B or C), or mortality according to OBI; B: Cumulative incidence of development of HCC according to OBI. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; OBI: Occult hepatitis B virus infection.