title: Hepatitis infection in immunocompromised patients.
abstract: The current literature fails to address the long-term course of hepatitis infection in the immunocompromised patient, in large part because of the characteristically slow progression of this disease. An overview of the literature available fails to demonstrate evidence that immunosuppression per se promotes progression of hepatitis. In fact, many studies document a relatively low incidence of chronic active hepatitis or cirrhosis in immunocompromised patients; however, properly designed, prospective studies of sufficient numbers of patients with long-term follow-up are not available. Thus, no reliable conclusions are possible at this time.
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive Diseases, UCLA School of Medicine.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gitnick
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D015995:Prevalence