title: [4. Austrian consensus-statement for diagnosis and therapy of hepatitis B 2009].
abstract: Hepatitis B is the most common chronic viral infection of the liver. Chronic hepatitis B is estimated to affect at least 350 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of death from liver disease. There have been dramatic developments both in the diagnostic field and in drug treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Today, chronic hepatitis B is a well manageable disease in the vast majority of cases and the main challenge remains the detection of affected patients at an early enough disease stage to prevent end-stage liver disease and its complications. The rapid pace of drug development mandated an update of the Austrian guidelines on the treatment of hepatitis B, which after 1994 and 1998 were now dating back to 2005 in their third version. All chapters from the 3. consensus statement from 2005 were renewed except for the chapter on liver biopsy, which is still valid in its 2005-version. In particular, virologic parameters take now center stage for treatment decisions, HBV-genotyping is now being considered for the choice of treatment, and the oral first line treatment for chronic hepatitis B has been changed. Overall this consensus statement accounts for the major advances in the management of hepatitis B and significantly changes clinical management of patients with hepatitis B in Austria.
authors.affiliation: Osterreichische Gesellschaft für Gastroenterologie und Hepatologie, Arbeitsgruppe Leber, Wien, Austria. markus.peck@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peck-Radosavljevic
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferenci
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Graziadei
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Heidemarie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Holzmann
authors.forename: Wolf-Dietrich
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laferl
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maieron
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stauber
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards*