Fig. 1

Study design. This was a prospective controlled trial conducted at a single center. Patients were recruited in March 2017 and assigned to the ETV continuation (n = 32) or TAF change (n = 48) groups according to the wishes of ETV continuation patients. During the follow-up period of up to 240 weeks, one patient in the ETV group and two in the TAF change group discontinued the follow-up due to hospital transfer. Finally, a comparative study was conducted between the ETV continuation (n = 31) and TAF change (n = 46) groups. ETV (Baraclude) was administered orally at 0.5 mg once daily under fasted conditions. TAF (Vemlidy) was administered orally at a dose of 25 mg once daily. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in serum HBsAg levels from baseline at 48 weeks. ETV entecavir, TAF tenofovir alafenamide, HBsAg hepatitis B surface antigen.