Tenofovir as Rescue Therapy Following Clinical Failure to Lamivudine in Severe Acute Hepatitis B

Acute hepatitis B (AHB) is a self-limiting condition in more than 95% of cases. Treatment is however recommended in patients with severe AHB (< 1% of cases), aiming to prevent liver failure and death. Various nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA)have been found to be effective in severe AHB, although NA-resistant strains causing AHB have been also recently reported. The use of tenofovir in severe AHB has only been described in 3 cases (1 adult and 1 infant with HBV mono-infection, 1 adult with HBV/HIV co-infection). We hereby report a 47-year-old treatment-naive male, who developed severe AHB and was initially treated with lamivudine (LMV). Initial rapid biochemical response was followed by biochemical breakthrough after 9 days, suggesting LMV resistance. Rescue therapy with 'add-on' tenofovir brought about a sustained improvement in biochemical, serological and virological markers until HBsAg was lost after 4 months. Thus, this is the second adult HBV mono-infected patient, who responded successfully to tenofovir in severe AHB.