Liver Transplantation in Patients with Hepatitis C

As a leading indication for liver transplantation in Western countries, hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a significant burden both before and after transplantation. Post-transplant disease recurrence occurs in nearly all patients with detectable pre-transplant viremia, therefore compromising the lifesaving significance of transplantation. Many factors involving the donor, recipient and virus have been evaluated throughout the literature, although few have been fully elucidated and implemented in actual clinical practice. Antiviral therapy has been recognized as a cornerstone of HCV infection control; however, experience and success are limited following transplantation in a challenging cohort of patients with liver cirrhosis. Current therapeutic protocols surpass those that were used previously, both in regards to sustained viral response (SVR) and the side-effect profile