Treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection in infants and young children: A systematic review

Table 3 Summary of the analysed studies

	Study design	Sample size (n)	Treatment regimens	Follow-up duration	Age groups, n (%)	HBsAg loss rates (%, age group)	HBeAg loss rates (%, age group)	HBV DNA loss rates (%, age group)
Yao et al[21]	Retrospective	83 (36 started antiviral treatment)	PegIFN, IFN-α, ETV or tenofovir	Median 2.5 years (IQR 0.1-14.8 years)	N/A	Treated group 25.0%, N/A	Treated group 50%, N/A	Treated group 66.7%, N/A
Wu et al[22]	Retrospective	306	IFN/pegIFN ETV combination therapy	Median 26 months (IQR 17-42)	1-3 years (253, 82.7), 4-6 years (28, 9.2), 7-17 years (25, 8.2)	62.6%, 1-3 years, 41.7%, 4-6 years, 17.0%, 7-17 years	68.4%, 1-3 years, 56.1%, 4-6 years, 47.0%, 7-17 years	85.5%, 1-3 years, 82.4%, 4-6 years, 71.8%, 7-17 years
Zhang et al[23]	Retrospective	372	IFN-α in combination with NA (ETV or LAM); IFN-α for 6 months, and subsequent addition of NA if inadequate HBV DNA response. NA monotherapy with possible subsequent addition of IFN-α if inadequate HBV DNA response	36 months	1- < 3 years (115, 30.9); 3- < 7 years (141, 37.9); 7- < 12 years (55, 14.8); 12-16 years (61, 16.4)	62.6%, 1- < 3 years, 41.1%, 3- < 7 years, 25.5%, 7- < 12 years, 1.6%, 12-16 years	87.0%, 1- < 3 years, 73.1%, 3- < 7 years, 65.5%, 7- < 12 years, 39.3%, 12-16 years	93.9%, 1- < 3 years, 93.6%, 3- < 7 years, 80.0%, 7- < 12 years, 91.8%, 12-16 years
Zhu et al[24]	Prospective	29 (all < 1 year-old at enrolment)	LAM (started before 1 year of age); IFN-α (started after 1 year of age)	12 months after treatment; median of 102 months in case of HBsAg or HBeAg seroconversion	< 1 year at starting treatment (18, 62); > 1 year at starting treatment (11, 38)	94.4%, < 1 year; 36.4%, > 1 year	100%, < 1 year; 90.9%, > 1 year	100%, < 1 year; 100%, > 1 year
Li et al[25]	Prospective	48 (32 in the treated group; 16 in the control group)	IFN-α monotherapy; IFN-α with NA (LAM or ETV) add-on; IFN-α and NA (LAM or ETV) combination therapy	36 months	Treated group ≥ 1 and < 3 (9, 28); ≥ 3 and < 7 (19, 59); 7-14 (4, 13)	Treated group 100%, ≥ 1 and < 3 year; 47%, ≥ 3 and < 7 years; 0%, ≥ 7 years	Treated group 59.38%, N/A	Treated group 84.38%, N/A
Zhu et al[26]	RCT	69, 1-16 years old (46 in the treatment group, 23 in the control group)	IFN-α monotherapy; IFN-α with NA (LAM) add-on if inadequate viral response	96 weeks after treatment initiation	N/A	Treated group 21.74%, N/A	Treated group 32.61%, N/A	Treated group 73.91%, N/A

HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBeAg: Hepatitis B envelope antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; ETV: Entecavir; IFN: Interferon; IQR: Interquartile range; LAM: Lamivudine; NA: Nucleos(t)ide analogues; N/A: Not applicable; pegIFN: Pegylated interferon; RCT: Randomized clinical trial.