Prognostic Relevance of Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis for Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is prevalent in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The effect of the histologic MAFLD phenotype on long-term CHB outcomes is unknown. We performed a longitudinal study to determine the prognostic relevance of biopsy-proven hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis for CHB patients.Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy during 2002-2008 and were treated with antiviral drugs. A hepatopathologist reviewed the biopsy specimens. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of outcomes, including all-cause mortality, liver transplantation, and liver-related events.In accordance with Brunt's classification, 408 patients had steatohepatitis (Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis increased the risk of long-term mortality/transplantation and liver-related events in CHB patients.