Prophylaxis and treatment strategies for chronic viral hepatitis in liver transplant patients.
This article highlights the importance of hepatotropic viruses as pathogens in patients undergoing liver transplantation, their contribution to morbidity and mortality after transplantation, and the approach to treatment of these pathogens when they cause disease. Although many advances have been made in the management of viral hepatitis in the transplant setting, there remain unanswered questions about the long-term natural history of the disease. An understanding of the pathogenesis of infection in the setting of transplantation is emerging slowly but requires further investigation. New approaches to treating disease in patients with either HBV or HCV infection are under development and will likely focus on the use of combinations of antiviral and immunomodulatory agents.
Bzowej
N H
NH
Division of Gastroenterology, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Wright
T L
TL
D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D055502:Secondary Prevention