Withdrawal of posttransplant hepatitis B virus prophylaxis: A blind test

An Overview of the Current Hepatitis B Treatment Strategies after Liver Transplantation

Currently, liver transplantation (LT) is considered as the only option for the treatment of patients with various causes of liver failure, including patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. Overall, patients with HBV who undergo LT are at increased risk of hepatitis B infection recurrence. Although the current knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of this infection has been dramatically increased over the past few decades, it is still considered a complex disease process with varying degrees of clinical characteristics and changing patterns over time. There are various treatment strategies for preventing HBV recurrence in the LT setting. Generally, these regimens include oral nucleoside/ nucleotide analogues (NAs), hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG), and vaccines or the combination of these drugs. The treatment strategy of choice should be based on cost-effectiveness, along with other patients underlying conditions. In this case, studies indicate that potent NAs are more cost-effective than HBIG in most case scenarios. In this article, we aimed to review the general medications used in the prophylaxis of the recurrence of HBV infection after LT.

Hepatitis B virus recurrence after liver transplantation: An old tale or a clear and present danger?

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) has been described more than 50 years ago. Similarly, to other clinical conditions, in which impairment of host immune defense favors viral replication, early reports described in details recurrence and reactivation of HBV in liver transplant recipients. The evidence of a possible, severe, clinical evolution of HBV reappearance in a significant percentage of these patients, allowed to consider, for some years, HBV positivity a contraindication for LT. Moving from the old to the new millennium this picture has changed dramatically. Several studies contributed to establish efficient prophylactic protocols for HBV recurrence and with the advent of more potent anti-viral drugs an increased control of infection was achieved in transplanted patients as well as in the general immune-competent HBV population. Success obtained in the last decade led some authors to the conclusion that HBV is now to consider just as a “mere nuisance”. However, with regard to HBV and LT, outstanding issues are still on the table: (1) A standard HBV prophylaxis protocol after transplant has not yet been clearly defined; (2) The evidence of HBV resistant strains to the most potent antiviral agents is claiming for a new generation of drugs; and (3) The possibility of prophylaxis withdrawal in some patients has been demonstrated, but reliable methods for their selection are still lacking. The evolution of LT for HBV is examined in detail in this review together with the description of the strategies adopted to prevent HBV recurrence and their pros and cons.