AASLD EXPO: Diagnosis and management of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection.

HBsAg-positive individuals should be screened at least once for HDV using HDV antibody testing, with RNA confirmation for antibody-positive cases.

• Why it matters: HDV infection is a rare co-infection or super-infection in people with HBV and is linked to substantial morbidity and mortality from liver events.
• What they did: An AASLD EXPO expert practice opinion used a targeted literature review and consensus to recommend screening, diagnostic confirmation with HDV RNA, fibrosis assessment, and 6-month lab monitoring and HCC surveillance imaging.
• The result: Adults with chronic HDV viremia and compensated liver disease should be considered for bulevirtide-based therapy, including bulevirtide alone or bulevirtide plus peg-IFN alfa-2a for selected patients, aiming for chronic virologic suppression.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.