Arvydas Ambrozaitis, Ligita Balčiūnienė, Algimantas Irnius¹, Danutė Speičienė¹, Limas Kupčinskas², Alvydas Laiškonis³

Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Vilnius University, ¹Clinic of Gastroenterology and Dietetics, Vilnius University, ²Clinic of Gastroenterology, Kaunas Medical University Hospital, ³Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Kaunas University of Medicine

Key words: chronic hepatitis B, diagnosis, management, alpha interferon, lamivudine.

Summary. In order to improve the diagnostics and the efficacy of treatment of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis B virus – induced cirrhosis in Lithuania, Lithuanian experts on the antiviral therapy of chronic viral hepatitis in 2000 on the basis of experience in Europe, the USA, Southeast Asia, China and other countries, has produced a Lithuanian Consensus Statement on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B. These draft recommendations were discussed, debated, revised and finally accepted at the National Conference of Infectious Diseases and Gastroenterology specialists on the development of Lithuanian Statement on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B which was held in Vilnius in February 2001. This article presents the final version of the Consensus Statement on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B which was submitted to the Ministry of Health for approval. Chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis diagnostic criteria and different treatment strategies with interferon or lamivudine, or lamivudine and interferon combination are discussed. The differences of HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B and HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B treatment are presented.