Hepatitis C dilemma?

✍ Scribed by Ascher, Nancy L. ;Féray, Cyrille ;Samuel, Didier ;Gigou, Michèle ;Paradis, Valérie ;David, Marie Françoise ;Lemonnier, Catherine

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 134 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1074-3022
• DOI: 10.1002/lt.500020111

✦ Synopsis

The aim of this open trial was to assess the efficacy and the safety of interferon (IFN) alfa therapy in liver transplant recipients with chronic active hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus. In July 1991, among 447 liver recipients regularly observed at our institution, 46 had developed HCV-related chronic active hepatitis defined by piece meal necrosis. Fourteen of these 46 patients received IFN alfa 3mlU three times weekly for a planned duration of 6 months and were compared to the 32 untreated patients. Genotyping and quantification of viremia were performed using type-specific amplification and branched DNA assay. Histological follow-up was available in all patients and routinely before and after IFN therapy. Treated and untreated patients did not differ reading gender, age, length of follow-up, maximum histological score, and genotypes (41 or 46 were of type lb). Induction of chronic rejection was observed in 5 of 14 treated patients leading to retransplantation in 3. In contrast, chronic rejection occurred in 1 of 32 untreated