Clinical Information

Hepatitis D virus (HDV), also known as delta hepatitis virus, is a defective RNA virus comprised of a delta antigen and a hepatitis B surface antigen as the core and protein coat of the virus, respectively. This virus cannot replicate effectively by itself as it requires the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) to initiate and maintain its replication in the infected liver cells.

Infection with HDV occurs either as an acute coinfection with HBV or an acute superinfection of chronic HBV. Acute HBV-HDV coinfection usually follows a self-limited clinical course with spontaneous resolution but may have a fulminant clinical presentation. HDV superinfection in chronic HBV, or HBV carrier state, typically manifests as an acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B, with tendency to result in chronic HBV-HDV coinfection and early cirrhosis or liver failure. In the United States, chronic HDV infection is found in 1% of all individuals with a chronic HBV-infection.

Diagnosis of HDV can be established by detecting HDV antigen, HDV-specific IgM, HDV-specific total antibodies (combined IgM and IgG), or HDV RNA in the sera of infected patients with clinically evident acute or chronic hepatitis B. Anti-HDV IgM typically appears in serum at 2 to 3 weeks after onset of symptoms and disappears by 2 months after acute HDV infection, but it may persist up to 9 months in HDV superinfection. HDV total antibodies and HDV RNA persist in serum after resolution of acute HDV infection and in chronic coinfection.