Introduction
Liver disease caused by chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is now a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected patients in the developed world, where classic opportunistic complications of severe immunodeficiency have declined dramatically as a result of the widespread use of potent antiretroviral therapies.[1] Over the past few years, several consensus reports have addressed the issue of viral hepatitis and HIV infection.[2,3] In 2000, a group of experts in the field were invited to join the HCV-HIV International Panel. The first consensus conference took place in Paris.[4] Two years later, the large amount of new information on HCV and HIV, as well as important changes made in the guidelines for using antiretroviral drugs,[5] prompted us to organize another consensus conference, which was held in Barcelona in the summer of 2002. Following international recommendations for the development of clinical guidelines,[6] the meeting was planned as a full one-day workshop in which nine experts in the field of HIV and viral hepatitis discussed a total of nine questions, which were selected in advance as the most relevant and currently conflicting topics in the management of chronic viral hepatitis in the setting of HIV infection. A draft was written and circulated among panel members during the following months. Finally, in a second meeting that took place in February 2003, a final consensus was reached, and is presented here. The statements are graded according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America scoring system,[6] with minor changes (see Table 1 ).
AIDS. 2004;18(1) © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Cite this: Care of Patients With Hepatitis C and HIV Co-Infection - Medscape - Jan 01, 2004.
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