Markers of hepatitis B virus infection：current application and prospect / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

The natural history of chronic HBV infection is diverse and variable, ranging from inactive carriers to progressive chronic hepatitis B ( CHB), cirrhosis and hepatocelluar carcinoma.It is estimated that 93 million people are chronically infected with HBV and 20 million cases suffering from chronic hepatitis B in China.Hepatocelluar carcinoma has been the second leading cause of death for male in China.Liver cirrhosis and HCC which have high mortality and morbidity have become the heavy burden for the limited medication resource of China.Here the current clinical applications and consensus progression based on antigen and nuclear acid detection were acknowledged.The reasonable application as well as appropriate clinical interpretation are emphasized indicating that laboratory medicine practitioners should be more actively involved in clinical diagnosis and treatment.More efforts and contributions should be made by the laboratory medicine practitioner for optimizing clinical management of HBV-related diseases in future.