List of Contributors vii

Preface xi

Part I: Investigating the Liver

1 Noninvasive markers of fibrosis: how reliable are they? 3
Laurent Castera

2 Liver biopsy in chronic viral hepatitis: is there still life left in it? 9
Jaspreet Suri and Michael P. Curry

3 Screening for hepatocellular carcinoma in viral liver disease: any new biomarkers on the horizon? 15
Saroja Bangaru, Jorge A. Marrero, and Amit G. Singal

4 Realistic estimates of hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus disease burden 19
Homie Razavi

Part II: Today’s Therapies

Section 1: HCV

5 Acute hepatitis C: treat immediately or give a chance to spontaneously clear? 29
David E. Kaplan

6 Is ribavirin alive or dead in the current era of HCV therapy? 35
Vijay Prabhakar and Paul Y. Kwo

7 Hepatitis C virus genotype and viral testing, and on‐treatment monitoring: necessary or overkill? 41
Sirina Ekpanyapong and K. Rajender Reddy

8 Treatment of hepatitis C virus in renal disease: can we use all the drugs without additional monitoring? 48
Stanislas Pol

9 Does directly acting antiviral therapy improve quality of life? 54
Daniel M. Forton

10 Morbid obesity and hepatitis C: treat as normal or are there additional issues to consider? 59
María Fernanda Guerra, Javier Ampuero, and Manuel Romero‐Gómez

11 Generic direct‐acting antiviral agents: do they work well? 66
Omar Salim Al Siyabi and Seng‐Gee Lim

12 Impact and management of patients with multiple hepatitis C virus genotypes 74
Peter Ferenci

13 Hepatitis C virus and injecting drug use: what are the challenges? 78
Olav Dalgard

14 Hepatitis B virus reactivation while on hepatitis C virus direct‐acting antiviral therapy: is that a real concern and when is it a concern? 82
Marina Serper

15 Drug–drug interactions with direct‐acting antivirals: when do we need to care? 86
Fiona Marra and David Back

16 Treatment of hepatitis C in children 94
Maureen M. Jonas

17 While direct‐acting antivirals are effective, are there any unique safety considerations? 97
Olivia Pietri, Félix Trottier‐Tellier, and Marc Bourlière

18 Harm reduction strategies to prevent new infections and reinfections among people who inject drugs: how effective are they? 106
Jason Grebely and Marianne Martinello

19 Hepatitis C virus therapy in advanced liver disease: treat or transplant and treat? 112
Chalermrat Bunchorntavakul and K. Rajender Reddy

20 Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C virus: which should be treated first? 117
Mario U. Mondelli, Andrea Lombardi, and Massimo Colombo

21 Should we incentivize patients to take hepatitis C virus therapy? 122
Ed Gane

22 Treating prisoners with hepatitis C: should we do it and how? 125
Seth Francis‐Graham and William Rosenberg

23 Use of hepatitis C virus‐positive organs for uninfected recipients in the era of effective and safe direct‐acting antivirals: pros and cons 132
Sirina Ekpanyapong and K. Rajender Reddy

24 Is real‐life hepatitis C virus therapy as effective as in clinical trials? 138
Jessica Su and Joseph K. Lim

Section 2: HBV, HDV, and HEV

25 Management of acute hepatitis B infection: when should we offer antiviral therapy? 145
Emma Hathorn and David J. Mutimer

26 Rethinking the inactive carrier state: management of patients with low‐replicative HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B and normal liver enzymes 150
María Buti, Mar Riveiro‐Barciela, and Rafael Esteban

27 Hepatitis B e antigen‐positive chronic hepatitis B infection with minimal changes on liver biopsy: what to do next 156
Apostolos Koffas and Patrick T. Kennedy

28 The management of hepatitis B virus in pregnancy 160
Henry L.Y. Chan

29 Treatment of hepatitis B in children 164
Maureen M. Jonas

30 Hepatitis B vaccine failures: how do we handle them? 169
Daniel Shouval

31 The stopping rules in hepatitis B virus therapy: can we provide any guidance? 175
Florian van Bömmel and Thomas Berg

32 Hepatitis C and hepatitis B coinfection 182
Chun‐Jen Liu and Jia‐Horng Kao

33 Chronic hepatitis E virus infection: is it reality or hype and where does it matter? 189
Nassim Kamar and Jacques Izopet

34 Hepatitis E virus vaccines: have they arrived – when, where and for whom? 193
Amit Goel and Rakesh Aggarwal

Part III: Clinical Set‐up and the Future

35 Do we need expert hepatitis C virus treaters or are amateur treaters good enough? 203
Shyamasundaran Kottilil and Poonam Mathur

36 Hepatitis C vaccines: how close are we to the promised land? 208
Timothy Donnison, Senthil Chinnakannan, Paola Cicconi, and Eleanor Barnes

37 Elimination of hepatitis C virus in high‐prevalence, low‐income countries: is it feasible? 216
Mahmoud Abdo and Hadeel Gamal Eldeen

38 Hepatitis B virus diagnostics: anything new? 220
Dina Ginzberg, Robert J. Wong, and Robert G. Gish

Part IV: Ongoing Controversies

39 Is hepatocellular carcinoma risk impacted favorably or unfavorably by hepatitis C virus therapy with direct‐acting antivirals? 233
Giuseppe Cabibbo, Calogero Cammà, and Antonio Craxì

40 Global elimination of hepatitis C virus by 2030: the optimistic view 238
Gregory J. Dore and Marianne Martinello

41 Global elimination of hepatitis C virus by 2030: the pessimistic view 244
Thomas G. Cotter and Michael Charlton

Index 250