Female patient B.T.H, 47 years old in Lac Son (Hoa Binh) was hospitalized with severe liver failure on the basis of cirrhosis, viral hepatitis B accompanied by pneumonia and a very high risk of hepatic coma, abdominal distension, jaundice, and yellow eyes.
The patient did not go for regular health check-ups so he did not know he had hepatitis B. Around August 2024, the patient developed symptoms of increasing abdominal distension. When he went to the doctor, he discovered he had hepatitis B and had developed cirrhosis.
However, the patient did not take the medicine prescribed by the doctor but bought herbal medicine of unknown origin to treat the disease. After taking herbal medicine for 10 days, the patient began to have jaundice, yellow eyes, fatigue, poor appetite, and a swollen abdomen.
The patient was admitted to a local medical facility for treatment with cirrhosis and ascites, with liver function reaching 15%, so abdominal fluid was drained. The patient was then transferred to the Hepatitis Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in a very serious condition with symptoms: severe liver failure on the background of hepatitis B cirrhosis accompanied by pneumonia, liver enzymes increased more than 11 times, and obvious jaundice and yellow eyes. Liver function was only 13.6% and there was a very high risk of hepatic coma.
After 2 weeks of treatment, the patient had a disturbance of consciousness and was lethargic, so he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit and had to be placed on a ventilator. However, the patient did not respond to the medication and his condition became more critical. The family requested that the patient be transferred to home care.
“The initial cause of cirrhosis was that the patient had hepatitis B but did not receive treatment, so the disease progressed to cirrhosis with ascites. At this stage, the patient made another mistake by taking herbal medicine to treat the disease. This led to severe acute liver failure,” said Dr. Nguyen Quang Huy, Department of Hepatitis, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Or the case of patient B.T.Q, 34 years old, also in Hoa Binh, did not know when she had contracted hepatitis B. In August 2023, she felt tired and had a poor appetite, so she went for a health check and discovered she had hepatitis B.
Ms. Q was prescribed antiviral medication by her doctor. After 4 months of taking the medication, she stopped taking it on her own and switched to using Solanum procumbens, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and An xoa to detoxify her liver. She carefully researched the effects of the plants online, so Ms. Q felt secure in using them.
In September 2024, Ms. Q began to experience fatigue, poor appetite, and unusual jaundice. After being admitted to a hospital near her home, the doctor diagnosed her with acute liver failure on the basis of hepatitis B.
After 5 days of treatment, the patient's condition did not improve, so he was transferred to the Hepatitis Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, with symptoms of jaundice and yellow eyes increasing more than 20 times, acute liver failure, liver function reaching 49%, and liver enzyme index increasing 25 times higher than normal.
Doctor Nguyen Quang Huy recommends that, usually, people with chronic hepatitis B often feel healthy and have no symptoms. Therefore, patients are often subjective and the disease will progress without knowing it. Currently, the specific treatment for hepatitis B is antiviral drugs that help inhibit the hepatitis B virus. Patients need to talk to their doctor to get the best and most appropriate treatment method.
