HBS Ag seroclearance and seroconversion time in Patients with chronic hepatitis B Infection

Background: hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag) seroclearance and seroconversion (development of antibodies against hbsag) can increases the survival of chronic hepatitis b (chb) patients. the aim of this study was to determine the percentage and timing of hbsag seroclearance and seroconversion in patients with chronic hepatitis b infection. methods: 1026 patients with chb infection who referred to a private clinic were included. these patients had been followed-up for an average of 15 years. the patients whose hbs ag was cleared from the blood and remained negative until the end of follow-up were designated as hbs ag serocleared and the patients whose hbs ab was positive during follow-upwas designated as hbs ag seroconverted. the time of seroclearance and seroconversion of patients was recorded. liver function tests, alpha-fetoprotein (afp) and hepatitis b early antigen (hbe ag) status were extracted from the patients’ medical records. data were analysis with spss 17. results: the duration of follow-up was from 2 to 410 months and most patients were males (58.2%). the survival rate of hbs ag positivity after 5, 10 and 15 years were 95.6, 89.4 and 80.7%, and 98, 93.5 and 84.9% of patients had not yet developed anti-hbs antibodies after 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively. age, gender and taking medication had no effect on hbs ag clearance from the blood or anti-hbs production conclusion: the hbs ag seroconversion is a rare occurrence, but the incidence of this may increase with time, age and drug consumption. though there was no relationship in our patients.