Acute hepatitis B virus superinfection in a Taiwanese patient with chronic hepatitis C

Acute hepatitis B superimposed on patients with chronic hepatitis C is a rarely observed event, specially in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-prevalent areas where chronic HBV infection is usually acquired perinatally or at early infancy. The interactive relationship between HBV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and clinical outcome in such patients remains controversial. We report a case of acute HBV superinfection which occured during follow-up of chronic HCV infection in a 66-year old woman. The patient developed hepatic decompensation at the acute stage. Unlike previously reported cases in Taiwanese, in which the patient either died of fulminant hepatic failure or subsequently relapsed with HCV viremia, this chronic hepatitis C patient with acute HBV superinfection had virologic remission with undetectable HBV DNA and HCV RNA during 9 months of follow-up.