INVESTIGATIONS OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS B and C IN HIV-INFECTION
Authors: Moskaliuk V.D. , Rudan I.V. 
Published: December 2022

Relevance. Today, there are controversies regarding the influence of hepatitis B and C viruses on the course of HIV infection.

Objective assess the course and outcomes of chronic hepatitis B and C in HIV-infected patients, as well as to analyze the causes of death of such patients.

Materials and methods. A retrospective pseudorandomized study was conducted with a depth of 5 years. 114 medical records of inpatients (HIV infection in association with hepatitis B and C) were selected. The analysis of the causes of death in patients with HIV infection was carried out based on the study of autopsy materials of 21 patients.

Results. It was established that the frequency of CHV exacerbation in III-IV clinical stages of HIV infection is significantly higher, and remission is lower than in I-II stages - (36.8±4.5) versus (7.0±2.4)% and (35.1±4.5) and (7.9±2.5)%, respectively (p<0.001). The frequency of liver cirrhosis was characterized by a clear tendency to increase with the deepening of immunodeficiency.

The calculation of the frequency of findings in liver cirrhosis showed that in the I-II clinical stage of HIV infection, this value was equal to 0.17, and in the III-IV stage - 0.33. The relative risk of developing liver cirrhosis in HIV-infected patients was 0.52. Moreover, the probability of a fatal outcome in cirrhosis of the liver in HIV-infected patients in the I-II clinical stage was equal to 0.16, and in the III-IV stage - 0.29, with a relative risk of 0.63. The reduction in the relative risk of a fatal outcome taking into account the stage of HIV infection is 0.32.

The average life expectancy of patients from the moment of detection of HIV antibodies was (3.4±0.6) years (from 4 months to 9 years). Such a short average life expectancy of HIV-infected patients was caused by a large number of patients diagnosed for the first time already in the IV clinical stage. In more than half (13 out of 21) the causes of death were AIDS-related diseases (61.9 %).

Conclusions. A retrospective pseudorandomized study showed that cirrhosis of the liver in the early stages of HIV infection was registered 2.7 times less often than in patients with HIV infection in the stage of secondary diseases.

Exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B and C is significantly more often established in the III-IV clinical stage of concomitant HIV infection. Under the same circumstances, signs of cirrhosis of the liver are more often registered, and fatal outcomes occupy one of the leading places in patients with HIV infection. This indicates the need to revise the tactics of clinical management of this category of patients.

In 61.9 % of cases, the causes of death were AIDS-indicative diseases. Tuberculosis turned out to be the leading cause of death (46.1 %) of HIV-infected patients and was mainly in a generalized form. Toxoplasmosis (30.8 %) with damage to the brain and other organs takes the second place in terms of the frequency of fatal AIDS-indicative diseases. Meningoencephalitis of unspecified (probably herpetic) etiology was found in 23.1 % of the deceased. An important place in the structure of fatal outcomes in HIV-infected patients is occupied by the terminal stage of cirrhosis of the liver of mixed etiology - viral and alcoholic (38.1 %).