ABSTRACT
Hepatitis C is the one of the most common indications for liver transplantation. Infection
of the allograft after transplantation is universal, and recurrent hepatitis C progresses
at an accelerated rate. Antiviral therapy in selected patients on the transplant waiting
list may reduce the rate of hepatitis C virus reinfection. Preemptive antiviral therapy
after transplantation has been disappointing. However, treatment of established histological
disease with a combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin is associated with
sustained virologic response rates of 25 to 40%. Significant advances have been made
in the prevention of hepatitis B reinfection after transplantation. Results are now
excellent, with graft infection rates less than 10%. The challenges for the future
include designing strategies to optimize the use of antiviral agents to prevent the
need for transplantation and to avoid antiviral resistance and to determine the dose
and duration of hepatitis B immunoglobulin needed in the era of multiple nucleoside
analogs.
KEYWORDS
Hepatitis C - hepatitis B - interferon - hepatitis B immunoglobulin - antiviral therapy
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Anna LokM.D.
Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Health
System, 1500 East Medical Center Drive
3912 Taubman Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0362