Case report: dramatic response to lamivudine therapy following corticosteroid priming in chronic hepatitis B.

A 21 year-old male patient with chronic hepatitis B was treated with lamivudine 150 mg daily after withdrawal of a short course of oral prednisolone (30 mg daily for 3 weeks, 15 mg daily for 1 week). Serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA increased during prednisolone pretherapy and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was increasing after withdrawal of prednisolone. Clearance of HBV-DNA with hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion and ALT normalization occurred within 2 months after starting lamivudine therapy. If this dramatic response to lamivudine therapy after corticosteroid priming is confirmed by further studies, the regimens used in this particular case might become a powerful therapeutic tool for chronic HBV infection.