Table of Contents
How is chronic hepatitis B diagnosed?
Tests that can help diagnose hepatitis B or its complications are:
- Blood tests. Blood tests can detect signs of the hepatitis B virus in your body and tell your doctor whether it’s acute or chronic.
- Liver ultrasound. A special ultrasound called transient elastography can show the amount of liver damage.
- Liver biopsy.
How do you know the different types of hepatitis?
Hepatitis A, B, and C are all caused by different viruses. While these three viruses can cause similar symptoms, they differ in several ways, including how they’re transmitted and treated. Additionally, hepatitis A only causes an acute illness while hepatitis B and C can become chronic.
What percent of acute hepatitis B becomes chronic?
Risk for chronic infection is related to age at infection: about 90\% of infants with hepatitis B go on to develop chronic infection, whereas only 2\%–6\% of people who get hepatitis B as adults become chronically infected.
What are the different stages of hepatitis B?
The natural history of chronic hepatitis B infection can be divided into 4 phases: immune‐tolerant phase, immune‐active phase, immune‐control phase, and immune clearance.
Can chronic hepatitis B become acute?
A hepatitis B infection can result in either an acute infection or a chronic infection. When a person is first infected with the hepatitis B virus, it is called an “acute infection” (or a new infection).
How long do chronic hepatitis B patients live?
The estimated carrier life expectancy is 71.8 years, as compared to 76.2 years among noncarriers (Figure 5). These results are consistent with other estimates, which indicate that 15\% to 40\% of HBV carriers die of liver complications.
What are signs of chronic hepatitis?
Symptoms of Chronic Hepatitis
- An enlarged spleen.
- Small spiderlike blood vessels visible in the skin (called spider angiomas)
- Redness of the palms.
- Accumulation of fluid within the abdomen (ascites.
- A tendency to bleed (coagulopathy)
- Jaundice.
- Deterioration of brain function (hepatic encephalopathy.