Fibrosis evolution in chronic hepatitis B e antigen‐negative patients across a 10‐year interval

Summary The degree of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection influences outcome and management. Existing data describing the long‐term dynamic changes of liver fibrosis are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the evolution of liver fibrosis in CHB across a 10‐year period. CHB patients with liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography 10 years ago were recruited for follow‐up LSM. Fibrosis stages were classified according to EASL‐ALEH guidelines. Fibrosis progression/regression was arbitrarily defined as ≥1 fibrosis stage change from baseline. A total of 459 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐negative patients (224 untreated, 235 treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues [NAs]) were recruited. The mean age at baseline LSM was 41.7 ± 9.0 years (56.2% male). Over 10 years, the proportion of patients with advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis significantly reduced from 16.3% to 5.7% (P