Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence of anemia in patients with hepatitis B virus-induced acute-on-chronic liver failure（ACLF）,and to evaluate its association with short-term survivals. Methods Hospitalized patients with HBV related acute-on-chronic liver failure,cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B were recruited from December 2011 to January 2013 in this study. The peripheral blood index were routinely assayed. The prevalence and progression of anemia and clinical outcome of patients were observed. Results There were 171 patients included in this study. 2.5% out of 40 patients with chronic hepatitis B,34.7% out of 49 patients with liver cirrhosis and 45.1% out of 72 patients with ACLF had anemia at admission;and the percentages of mild,moderate and severe anemia in patients with ACLF were 26.8%,17.1% and 1.2%,respectively;Anemia in patients with ACLF exacerbated within first hospitalization week（122.4g/L vs. 112.7g/L,P=0.001）;the blood hemoglobin levels in survived patients with ACLF（n=42） increased（112.7 g/L vs. 147.5 g/L,P=0.001）;Blood hemoglobin levels in patients with ACLF at admission（cut-off value was 125.5 g/L） was an predictor for 90-day survivals （AUROC=0.735,P<0.001）. Conclusions Anemia in patients with ACLF is common and severe,which might aggravate within one week and recover in survivals.

Key words: Acute-on-chronic liver failure, Anemia, Hepatitis B, Short-term survival