Table 1 Management of Patients with HBV
From: Primary care physicians' approach to diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C patients
| Â | Case I | Case II | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | n | % | Current Advice | n | % | Current Advice |
At this point your next step would be to: | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Follow in clinic: level of ALT | 53 | 41.1 | Yes | 19 | 14.7 | No |
   Follow in clinic: refer if symptoms develop | 43 | 33.3 | Yes | - | - | No |
   Refer to a specialist | 29 | 22.5 | No | 10 | 7.6 | Yes |
   Don't know | 4 | 3.1 |  | 100 | 77.5 |  |
Which additional tests would you order (check all that apply)*: | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   HBV-DNA by PCR** | 79 | 61.2 | No | 62 | 48.1 | Yes |
   HBV genotyping | 2 | 1.6 | No | 16 | 12.4 | No |
   Liver biopsy | 93 | 72.1 | No | 44 | 34.1 | Yes |
   Don't know | - | - |  | 2 | 1.6 |  |
If you order therapy, which regimen would you recommend: | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Lamivudine | 40 | 31.0 | No | 26 | 20.2 | Yes |
   IFN-α + Lamivudine | 3 | 2.3 | No | - | - | Yes |
   Interferon (IFN)-α | 11 | 8.5 | No | 2 | 1.6 | Yes |
   Don't know | 75 | 58.2 |  | 101 | 78.2 |  |