[Hepatitis and liver transplantation]

Chronic hepatic dysfunction and acute liver failure due to viral hepatitis represent the most frequent indications for liver transplantation. Liver grafting is the only available life-saving intervention for most of these patients. Reinfection of the graft is still a central problem. In hepatitis B, reinfection frequently leads to cirrhosis with subsequent dysfunction of the graft. Prophylaxis of HBV reinfection with polyclonal human antibodies against HBsAg alone or in combination with the nucleoside analogue lamivudine is effective but costly. Reinfection in hepatitis C is a regular event in all patients and has a far better prognosis than HBV reinfection of the graft. Effective prophylaxis of HCV reinfection has still not been established and requires further studies. After HCV reinfection the prognosis of allograft survival is negatively affected; however, the 5-year survival rate in patients who have undergone liver transplantation for HCV-related liver disease is not lower than for other non-viral benign indications.