Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B with Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in Ivory Coast

Little data exist on patients treated with tenofovir in Sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: To describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with viral hepatitis B treated with tenofovir. Material and methods: A descriptive single-center retrospective study, on chronic viral hepatitis B mono-infected, followed in the hepatogastroenterology department of the University Hospital of Yopougon and treated with tenofovir from February 2012 to February 2015. The studied parameters were demographic, clinical, biochemical, serological, virological, abdominal ultrasound. Liver fibrosis was assessed either by liver biopsy or non-invasive tests. Results: 110 patients were treated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate with a mean age of 40.4 years and a male predominance. Clinical examination revealed jaundice in 9% of cases, hepatomegaly in 7.3% of cases, splenomegaly in 9.1% of cases and ascites in 15.5% of cases. The AST averaged 77.3 IU/l, the ALT 76.8 IU/l, prothrombin rate at 76.6% , albumin level at 32.3 g/l, total bilirubin at 29.9 g/l, alpha fetoprotein rate at 15.3 ng/ml. HBe antigen was negative in 76.2% of cases. The average rate of DNA at baseline was 7.4 log10 IU/l. 27.5% was cirrhotic. The average time of starting treatment was 23.7 months. Conclusion: TDF is the first-line treatment for chronic hepatitis B in our country, because it is a well-tolerated, potent therapy with a high threshold for resistance development. Our study population had an average age of 40.4 years. Virological profile was dominated by HBe antigen negative patients and high viral load of HVB DNA. One third of patients were at the stage of cirrhosis. This treatment must be delivered free of charge in all the country hospitals, which is going to improve significantly the natural evolution of the disease and to decrease the incidence of the HCC.