Novel protocol for prevention from hepatitis B reactivation following living‐donor liver transplantation

Aim Reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) after liver transplantation (LT) remains a problem; thus, development of more effective HBV reactivation prophylaxis is desirable. We evaluated the efficacy of a combination of a long‐term nucleotide analog (NA), such as entecavir (ETV) or tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), and short‐term hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) in preventing HBV reactivation and compared it with conventional HBV prophylaxis. Methods Between February 1999 and August 2023, 135 patients underwent living‐donor liver transplantation for liver cirrhosis or acute liver failure caused by HBV infection or received an LT from a hepatitis B core antibody‐positive donor. Recipients who had undergone LT were classified as being in the first or second era (namely until September 2017 and from October 2017), respectively, and outcomes of prophylaxis against HBV reactivation were compared between the two eras. Results In the second era, recipients with HBV‐related disease or who had received hepatitis B core antibody‐positive liver received combination therapy with short‐term HBIG and an NA such as TAF and ETV long‐term. The duration of HBIG treatment was markedly shorter than in the first era in both categories of patients and HBIG could be discontinued in all cases. Surprisingly, we observed HBV reactivation in the first era, but not in the second era, in both groups. Conclusions We have established a protocol for prophylaxis against HBV reactivation using a combination of short‐term HBIG and long‐term NA. This protocol was found to be sufficient to prevent HBV reactivation after LT.