Health Information
Liver Transplant for Hepatitis B
Topic Overview
During a liver transplant, your damaged liver is removed and replaced with a healthy one from an organ donor.
Liver transplantation is done to treat long-term (chronic) Reference hepatitis B Opens New Window virus (HBV) infection only after all other treatments have not worked, because transplanted organs can become reinfected with HBV.
- Recurrent infections are often severe, leading to rapid failure of the transplanted liver.
- High doses of Reference hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) are given to try to prevent reinfection.
- Short-term pre- and post-transplantation therapy with a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), such as entecavir, lamivudine, and tenofovir, may help prevent reinfection of a transplanted liver.Reference 1
- Interferon and peginterferon are not used to prevent reinfection of a transplanted liver.Reference 1
Liver transplants typically are done at large medical centers. Transplantation is very expensive.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: Reference October 29, 2012 |
| Medical Review: | Reference Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Reference W. Thomas London, MD - Hepatology |
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