Chronic hepatitis B: Prevent, diagnose, and treat before the point of no return

Figure 1 Diagrammatic representation of natural history of hepatitis B virus infection in human beings. Approximately, 8% to 20% of patients with chronic hepatitis B progressed to cirrhosis over 5 years. The natural course of cirrhosis is characterized by a protracted silent compensated phase to a more progressive phase following the first decompensation. A timely institution of antiviral therapy leads to significant regression of hepatic fibrosis as well as reversal of cirrhosis from compensated stage.