The Changing Epidemiology of Liver Disease in HIV Patients
Vicente Soriano 1, Pablo Barreiro 2, Kenneth E. Sherman 3
1 UNIR Health Sciences School and Medical Center, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Madrid, Spain; 2 Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Carlos III-La Paz University Hospital. Madrid, Spain; 3 NULL
*Correspondence: Kenneth E. Sherman, Email not available
Abstract
Liver disease continues to be one of the leading causes of hospitalization and death in HIV-infected individuals. Important etiologies include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and coinfection with hepatitis viruses B and C. While non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is increasingly diagnosed in this population, most cases of chronic hepatitis B can be well controlled with tenofovir-based regimens, and hepatitis C has entered a revolutionary era in which most patients may be cured with direct-acting antivirals. However, important gaps remain unaddressed. Hepatitis delta is a neglected disease, despite 15 million people being infected worldwide, and represents the most severe form of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E is largely unrecognized, despite being the major cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide and occasionally leading to chronicity in immunosuppressed individuals.
