International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Sep 2024)

A holistic evaluation of patients with chronic Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection enrolled in the Italian PITER-B and delta cohort

  • Loreta A. Kondili,
  • Giuseppina Brancaccio,
  • Maria Elena Tosti,
  • Barbara Coco,
  • Maria Giovanna Quaranta,
  • Vincenzo Messina,
  • Alessia Ciancio,
  • Filomena Morisco,
  • Valentina Cossiga,
  • Ernesto Claar,
  • Valerio Rosato,
  • Marianna Ciarallo,
  • Irene Cacciola,
  • Francesca Romana Ponziani,
  • Lucia Cerrito,
  • Roberta Coppola,
  • Francesco Longobardi,
  • Elisa Biliotti,
  • Alessia Rianda,
  • Francesco Barbaro,
  • Nicola Coppola,
  • Maria Stanzione,
  • Francesco Barchiesi,
  • Stefano Fagiuoli,
  • Mauro Viganò,
  • Marco Massari,
  • Francesco Paolo Russo,
  • Alberto Ferrarese,
  • Diletta Laccabue,
  • Vito Di Marco,
  • Pierluigi Blanc,
  • Aldo Marrone,
  • Giulia Morsica,
  • Alessandro Federico,
  • Donatella Ieluzzi,
  • Alba Rocco,
  • Francesco Giuseppe Foschi,
  • Alessandro Soria,
  • Ivana Maida,
  • Luchino Chessa,
  • Michele Milella,
  • Elena Rosselli Del Turco,
  • Salvatore Madonia,
  • Liliana Chemello,
  • Ivan Gentile,
  • Pierluigi Toniutto,
  • Matteo Bassetti,
  • Lorenzo Surace,
  • Leonardo Baiocchi,
  • Adriano Pellicelli,
  • Adriano De Santis,
  • Massimo Puoti,
  • Elisabetta Degasperi,
  • Grazia Anna Niro,
  • Anna Linda Zignego,
  • Antonio Craxi,
  • Giovanni Raimondo,
  • Teresa Antonia Santantonio,
  • Maurizia Rossana Brunetto,
  • Giovanni Battista Gaeta,
  • Alessio Aghemo,
  • Chiara Baiguera,
  • Pier Maria Battezzati,
  • Sara Battistella,
  • Maria Grazia Bavetta,
  • Costanza Bertoni,
  • Carolina Boni,
  • Paola Brambilla,
  • Antonella Bray,
  • Federica Briano,
  • Enrico Carmenini,
  • Francesco Castelli,
  • Luisa Cavalletto,
  • Federica Cerini,
  • Luciana Chidichimo,
  • Elisa Colella,
  • Giuliana Cologni,
  • Silvia Como,
  • Romina Corsini,
  • Chiara Costa,
  • Rosa Cotugno,
  • Silvia Cretella,
  • Fernando De Angelis,
  • Pasqualina De Leo,
  • Giovanni Di Perri,
  • Elisabetta Falbo,
  • Luigina Ferrigno,
  • Ezio Fornasiere,
  • Daniela Francisci,
  • Pietro Gatti,
  • Pietro Lampertico,
  • Ilaria Lenci,
  • Anna Licata,
  • Ivana Maida,
  • Alfredo Marzano,
  • Antonio Mastroianni,
  • Cesare Mazzaro,
  • Monica Monti,
  • Gerardo Nardone,
  • Laura Ambra Nicolini,
  • Nicola Passigato,
  • Maria Bruna Pasticci,
  • Piera Pierotti,
  • Biagio Pinchera,
  • Teresa Pollicino,
  • Carmen Porcu,
  • Giulia Quartini,
  • Gabriele Rancatore,
  • Mario Romeo,
  • Maria Grazia Rumi,
  • Annalisa Saracino,
  • Ornella Schioppa,
  • Ilaria Serio,
  • Roberta Soffredini,
  • Xhimi Tata,
  • Marco Tizzani,
  • Matteo Tonnini,
  • Carlo Torti,
  • Daniela Valenti,
  • Serena Zaltron,
  • Alessia Zoncada

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 146
p. 107115

Abstract

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Background and Aims: We aimed to characterize the epidemiologic and comorbidities profiles of patients with chronic Hepatitis D (CHD) followed in clinical practice in Italy and explored their interferon (IFN) eligibility. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of the PITER cohort consisting of consecutive HBsAg-positive patients from 59 centers over the period 2019-2023. Multivariable analysis was performed by logistic regression model. Results: Of 5492 HBsAg-positive enrolled patients, 4152 (75.6%) were screened for HDV, 422 (10.2%) were anti-HDV positive. Compared with HBsAg mono-infected, anti-HDV positive patients were more often younger, non-Italians, with a history of drug use, had elevated alanine transaminase (ALT), cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Compared with Italians, anti-HDV positive non-Italians were younger (42.2% age ≤ 40 years vs. 2.1%; P < 0.001), more often females (males 43.0% vs. 68.6%; P < 0.001) with less frequent cirrhosis and HCC. HDV-RNA was detected in 63.2% of anti-HDV-positive patients, who were more likely to have elevated ALT, cirrhosis, and HCC. Extrahepatic comorbidities were present in 47.4% of anti-HDV positive patients and could affect the eligibility of IFN-containing therapies in at least 53.0% of patients in care. Conclusions: CHD affects young, foreign-born patients and older Italians, of whom two-thirds had cirrhosis or HCC. Comorbidities were frequent in both Italians and non-Italians and impacted eligibility for IFN.

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