PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Robert Perrillo
TI  - Multicenter Studies of Lamivudine for the Treatment and Prevention of Hepatitis B After Liver Transplantation
DP  - 1999 Jan 01
TA  - Ochsner Journal
PG  - 33--36
VI  - 1
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/1/1/33.short
4100  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/1/1/33.full
SO  - Ochsner J1999 Jan 01; 1
AB  - Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease that may require liver transplantation. Recurrence of the initial infection in the grafted liver occurs frequently, and this is a frequent case of death after transplantation. Treatment of recurrent infection with interferon has been ineffective, and the only therapy that has been shown to prevent infection is high dose hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg), a material that is very expensive and in short supply. In this article the author reviews the experience with lamivudine, an orally available nucleoside analogue, as a means of preventing and treating recurrent hepatitis B after liver transplantation. The results in both areas look promising, and it is possible that lamivudine maintenance therapy may obviate the need for life-long use of HBIg after liver transplantation. This will undergo study over the next several years in a multicenter trial supported by the National Institutes of Health.