Published online October 5, 2009
PEDIATRICS (doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0567)

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Haber, B. A. Articles by Schwarz, K. B. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Haber, B. A. Articles by Schwarz, K. B. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Special Articles

Recommendations for Screening, Monitoring, and Referral of Pediatric Chronic Hepatitis B

Barbara A. Haber, MD^a, Joan M. Block, RN, BSN^b, Maureen M. Jonas, MD^c, Saul J. Karpen, MD, PhD^d, W. Thomas London, MD^e, Brian J. McMahon, MD^f, Karen F. Murray, MD^g, Michael R. Narkewicz, MD^h, Philip Rosenthal, MDⁱ, Kathleen B. Schwarz, MD^j

^aDivision of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
^bHepatitis B Foundation, Doylestown, Pennsylvania;
^cDivision of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts;
^dDepartment of Pediatrics/Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas;
^eFox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
^fLiver Disease and Hepatitis Program, Alaska Native Medical Center, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, Alaska;
^gDivision of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Seattle Children's and University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington;
^hDepartment of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Pediatric Liver Center, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and Children's Hospital, Aurora, Colorado;
ⁱPediatric Hepatology, University of California, San Francisco, California; and
^jPediatric Liver Center, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Most children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (persistent hepatitis B surface antigen–positive for >6 months) are asymptomatic and do not generally require treatment. These children are, however, at increased risk for severe complications later in life, including advanced liver disease and liver cancer. On November 11, 2008, the Hepatitis B Foundation, a nonprofit research and disease advocacy organization, convened a panel of nationally recognized North American pediatric liver specialists to consider and recommend an approach for the screening, monitoring, initial management, and referral of children with chronic hepatitis B. The panel developed recommendations to provide guidance to practitioners on determining what additional tests to conduct, how often to monitor on the basis of test results, and when to refer to a pediatric liver specialist to build a partnership between the practitioner and liver specialist to enhance the success of management of children with this lifelong infection.

Key Words: hepatitis B • chronic • pediatrics • screening • disease management • liver

Abbreviations: AFP, -fetoprotein

---

Accepted Aug 7, 2009.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?