P- 69 CHRONIC HEPATITIS B: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS, EVOLUTION AND PREVALENT PHASES, IN REFERENCE CENTERS IN PARAGUAY

Abstract

Introduction and Objectives: Viral hepatitis is a public health problem worldwide. Approximately 325 million people worldwide were living with chronic hepatitis at the end of 2015: the most prevalent, HBV. There is not much information on the characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis B in Paraguay. This study aimed to know the characteristics of the population with chronic Hepatitis B who consulted and/or had a follow-up in two hepatology reference centers in the period between 2000 - 2019. Materials and Methods: Observational, descriptive, retrospective. Excel for data collection. Variables are expressed as frequency, mean and percentages. Results: 12,972 medical records were evaluated, of which 171 (1.3%) had a diagnosis of Chronic Hepatitis B. 127 files were included, and 44 (26%) of the stories did not have enough information for the present analysis. Eighty-two (65%) of the patients were Paraguayan, 44 (35%) of Asian origin, and 1 (0.8%) were African. A liver biopsy was performed on 17% of the patients: 7 were in the cirrhotic stage and 4 had no inflammatory activity. Of the 127 patients studied: 3 (3%) were in Phase 1, 38 (32%) in Phase 2 (82% Western); 61 (51%) in Phase 3 and 16 (14%) in Phase 4 (44% from the far East communities). Thirty (24%) were in the cirrhotic stage; in 20 of these, some manifestation of Portal Hypertension was found, the most frequent being esophageal varices. Three of the 127 (2.4%) were diagnosed with HCC (two of them in the cirrhotic stage: corresponding to 6.7% of this population). Conclusions: This series contributes to estimating the characteristics of patients with chronic Hepatitis B in Paraguay. Most are indigenous cases, but there is an important number from Far Eastern communities. A considerable percentage of patients are in a phase that requires treatment.