A prospective study of delta infection in fulminant hepatic failure.

Thirty one patients of HBV related Fulminant Hepatic Failure (FHF) were studied for the presence of delta infection and subsequently the clinical features, course and outcome of the delta infected cases was compared with those of delta uninfected cases. Out of 31 patients studied, 11 patients (35.8%) were reactive for anti-delta antibodies. There was no significant difference in age in delta reactive and non-reactive group. Hepatic encephalopathy was seen in all of the patients. The mean SGOT and SGPT were 378 +/- 88.74 U and 454 +/- 70.44 U respectively in anti-delta reactive group as compared to 239 +/- 74.94 U and 274.1 +/- 100.34 U respectively in anti-delta non reactive group (p < 0.05). During follow up, 10/11 patients (91%) died in anti-delta reactive group as compared to 13/20 patients (65%) in anti-delta non reactive group. So this study suggests that delta virus infection is quite common in India and it lead to excerbation of illness and carries a relatively poor prognosis for FHF.