SAN FRANCISCO — Children who receive living donor liver transplants are at risk of developing hepatitis B if they have low antibody titers, according to a poster presentation by Dr. Chih-Che Lin at the American Transplant Congress.
In a study of 60 pediatric liver recipients (average age, 1.6 years), two children developed new hepatitis B infections following the transplant. Both of these children had low levels—less than 1,000 IU/L—of antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs).
In contrast, none of the 47 children with anti-HBs titers more than 1,000 IU/L developed new hepatitis B infections. This was a statistically significant difference, wrote Dr. Lin and colleagues from the Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Of the two children with new hepatitis B infections, one received a graft from a donor who was positive for antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), and the other received a graft from a donor who was anti-HBc negative. The presence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen is a marker of acute, chronic, or resolved HB virus infection. The meeting was cosponsored by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation.