Naïve hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B patients are at risk of carotid atherosclerosis: A prospective study

BACKGROUND There is an increased risk of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C or human immunodeficiency virus, but there is scarce data on hepatitis B virus infection. The hypothesis of this study is that hepatitis B virus infection increases the risk of carotid plaques and subclinical atherosclerosis in naïve hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative subjects. AIM To assess the rate of carotid plaques and subclinical atherosclerosis in naïve HBeAg negative subjects in comparison with a cohort of healthy controls. METHODS Prospective case-control collaborative study conducted in two tertiary hospitals. Four hundred and two subjects prospectively recruited at the outpatient clin…