title: Reversibility of cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis are the consequences of many types of chronic liver disease, and, at its final stage when liver nodule and scarring develop, they are generally considered to be irreversible.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we describe 3 patients with chronic hepatitis B with clinical, biochemical, and histologic evidence of cirrhosis. They underwent treatment with interferon-alpha or lamivudine and had follow-up liver biopsy while in clinical, biochemical, and virologic remission. Biopsy specimens were randomly coded in unpaired manner according to patient, and they were read independently by 2 pathologists using the modified hepatitis activity index (with a maximum stage of 6). The mean interval between biopsies was 5.5 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean ALT level decreased from 113.7 to 28.3 U/L. The mean bilirubin level decreased from 2.4 to 0.9 mg/dL, and the mean prothrombin time decreased from 16.3 to 12.3 seconds. The mean Child-Pugh score decreased from 8 to 5. The mean fibrosis score decreased from 5.8 to 0.5 (P = 0.004), and the mean grading score decreased from 10.8 to 3.2 (P = 0.017).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis B might be reversible in some patients who respond to antiviral therapy.
authors.affiliation: Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. malek@ams.ac.ir
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malekzadeh
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohamadnejad
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rakhshani
authors.forename: Siavosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nasseri-Moghaddam
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merat
authors.forename: Seyed Mohamad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tavangar
authors.forename: Amir Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sohrabpour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019259:Lamivudine