Importance of adequate immunosuppressive therapy for the recovery of patients with “life-threatening” severe exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B

Table 1 Clinical features of patients.

Pt	Age (yr)	Sex	Therapy drug	Duration (d)1	Condition	History of immunosuppresive or cytotoxic therapy	Outcome
Patients who received early introduction of high-dose corticosteroids
1.	27	M	MPSL/PSL	1	Ulcerative colitis	+	Death
2.	36	M	PSL	2		-	Re covery
3.	41	F	PSL	3		-	Recovery
4.	27	M	PSL	4		-	Recovery
5.	41	F	PSL	4	Schizophrenia	-	Recovery
6.	33	M	PSL+Lam	4		-	Recovery
7.	68	F	PSL+Lam	4	Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma	+	Recovery
8.	56	M	PSL	5		-	Recovery
9.	57	F	PSL	5		-	Recovery
10.	39	M	PSL	5	Acute lymphocytic leukemia	+	Recovery
11.	43	M	PSL	10		-	Recovery
Patients who did not receive early introduction of high-dose corticosteroids
12.	49	F	PSL+IFN	14	Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma	+	Death
13.	59	F	PSL	14		-	Death
14.	47	M	PSL+Lam	14	Ulcerative colitis	+	Death
15.	58	M	PSL	15		-	Death
16.	59	M	PSL	17		-	Death
17.	36	F	MPSL/PSL+IFN	28	Breast cancer	+	Death
18.	68	F	PSL	120	Pemphigoid	+	Death
19.	41	M	glycyrrhizin			-	Recovery
20.	55	M	glycyrrhizin			-	Recovery
21.	59	M	glycyrrhizin			-	Death
22.	28	M	glycyrrhizin		Mental retardation	-	Death

PSL: prednisolone, MPSL: methylprednisolone, IFN: interferon, Lam: lamivudine. 1Duration between the diagnosis of severe disease and introduction of immunosuppressive drugs.