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Histological improvement with lamivudine therapy for de novo hepatitis B occurring in an anti-HBs-positive child after bone marrow transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 30, pages 459–462 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We describe a 14-year-old bone marrow transplant recipient who was anti-HBs-positive before the procedure and afterwards developed acute infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Liver biopsies taken while symptomatic showed portal fibrosis progressing to cirrhosis. The patient responded to lamivudine treatment with HBeAg seroconversion and significant regression of fibrosis. Although the source and timing of HBV exposure remain unclear, the potential for severe hepatitis B infection following bone marrow transplant warrants caution. This case demonstrates that a symptomatic HBV infection can occur in an immunocompromised patient who had originally been anti-HBs-positive.

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Acknowledgements

Dr Yeung is the recipient of a Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Health Canada Hepatitis C Initiative. We thank Dr Wendy Lau, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, for assistance with the blood donor trace-back.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    LTF Yeung & EA Roberts

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    M Petric & E Cutz

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  1. LTF Yeung
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  2. M Petric
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  3. E Cutz
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  4. EA Roberts
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Yeung, L., Petric, M., Cutz, E. et al. Histological improvement with lamivudine therapy for de novo hepatitis B occurring in an anti-HBs-positive child after bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 30, 459–462 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1703675

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