| A rare hepatic disease with characteristics of graft infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) after liver transplantation, due to persistence and reactivation of HBV in extrahepatic sites (also despite previous clearance of the hepatitis B surface antigen from serum, as shown by laboratory examination), followed by re-invasion of the graft. It may develop between two weeks and several years post transplantation. Clinico-pathological features are variable and range from mild self-limited hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, and fulminant hepatitis, to fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis. The condition is associated with significantly reduced graft survival rates and overall patient survival. |
