The changing epidemiology of liver disease in HIV patients

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.