Clinical and immunological aspects of hepatitis B virus infection in children with haematological malignancies
Kościelniak, E.
Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis 29(5): 689-695
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-069X PMID: 7347589 Document Number: 174900
Patients (143) with hematological malignancies were screened at the onset and during the disease for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the serum. HBsAg was found in the serum of 38/143 patients (26.5%) in a mean period of 14.5 mo. after the diagnosis was established. The relationship between immunological status of the patients and the course of the infection was analyzed. In 17/38 patients who developed icteric hepatitis, the mean amounts of erythrocyte-rosetting lymphocytes were significantly higher than in the anicteric hepatitis group and asymptomatic HBsAg carriers. These 2 groups of patients showed a tendency for HBsAg persistence and chronic carrier state or chronic hepatitis development.