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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 21, 2014; 20(39): 14142-14155
Published online Oct 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i39.14142
Hepatitis B and liver transplantation: Molecular and clinical features that influence recurrence and outcome
Tahereh Ghaziani, Hossein Sendi, Saeid Shahraz, Philippe Zamor, Herbert L Bonkovsky
Tahereh Ghaziani, Department of Medicine School, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical Liver Transplantation Institute, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Hossein Sendi, Departments of Medicine and Research, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC 28203, United States
Saeid Shahraz, Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, United States
Philippe Zamor, Department of Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States
Herbert L Bonkovsky, The Liver-Biliary-Pancreatic Center, Department of Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work; all authos designed the review, wrote sections and edited the review.
Supported by A grant (No. R15 HL 117199) and contract No. U01 DK 065201 from the United States National Institutes of Health (to Bonkovsky HL) and institutional funds from Carolinas HealthCare System (to Sendi H) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (to Ghaziani T)
Correspondence to: Herbert L Bonkovsky, MD, Professor, Senior Adviser, The Liver-Biliary-Pancreatic Center, Department of Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, MMP1, 6th Floor, 1025 Morehead Medical Center Drive, Charlotte, NC 28204, United States. herbert.bonkovsky@carolinas.org
Telephone: +1-704-3557516 Fax: +1-704-3556998
Received: February 22, 2014
Revised: April 29, 2014
Accepted: May 25, 2014
Published online: October 21, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: Hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection continues to be a major health problem world-wide. Recurrence of HBV following liver transplantation was a major problem in the 1980’s-1990’s, which led most insurers to refuse to cover costs of such transplants. This changed dramatically following the landmark demonstration that high-dose hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) could prevent recurrent infection. Recently, highly effective inhibitors of the HBV polymerase, with high barrier to resistance (entecavir, tenofovir) have become available, and they promise to decrease the need for HBIG and the costs and complexity of preventing recurrent HBV after liver transplantation.