Challenges in the discontinuation of chronic hepatitis B antiviral agents

Table 3 Factors predictive of hepatitis B virus relapse

Baseline at pretreatment	On-treatment	End of treatment
Virological relapse
High age[40,44]	Short consolidation duration[38]	High HBsAg level[40,41]
Male sex[40]		High HBcrAg level[12]
High HBsAg level[44]		High HBV RNA level[12]
Clinical relapse
High HBsAg level[44]	Short consolidation duration[44]	High HBsAg level[13,40,41]
		High HBcrAg level[12,13,52]
		High HBV RNA level[12,52]

HBcrAg: Hepatitis B core-related antigen; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus.