An analysis of cohorts of patients with compensated cirrhosis caused by the HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) indicates that the disease decompensates at an annual rate of 1.5% to 5%. Following decompensation, the 5-year survival rate has varied from 14% to 35%. the 5-year survival rate in untreated patients is higher in patients decompensating from variceal bleeding than in those decompensating from ascites (29vs.16%).

HBV infection is a worldwide major health problem. About 2 billion people have been infected with this VIRUS and 350 million of these are chronically infected (or carriers) with the VIRUS (1). The global prevalence of chronic HBV infection varies widely and world can be divided into three categories of HBV prevalence; high (prevalence of about 8%), intermediate (prevalence of 2-7%) and low (prevalence of fewer than 2%) (2). Despite the availability of effective HBV vaccines, new infection is common. The incidence of new cases of HBV is about 200/000-300/000 in USA and 1 million in Europe each year (3,4). Worldwide, 350 million people with chronic HBV infection have a 15% to 25% risk of dying from HBV-related liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (5). HBV is estimated to be responsible for 500,000–700,000 deaths each year (6,7)…