| Abstract: | Abstract: We present a case of severe exacerbation of hepatitis after short‐term corticosteroid therapy for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD) with “latent” chronic hepatitis B showing no HBV‐related antigens and antibodies. After corticosteroid pulse therapy for CIPD, the patient had severe exacerbation of hepatitis twice. Although she did not show any hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related antigens or antibodies, sequences of HBV were detected in serum and liver by a nested polymerase chain reaction. A sequence analysis of HBV at the second exacerbation showed that the G‐to‐A point mutation at nucleotide 1896 that converted codon 28 from tryptophan (TGG) to a stop codon (TAG) in the precore region resulted in amino acid change, which has been frequently observed in fulminant hepatitis and severe hepatitis in Japan. |
