Liver Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Liver Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

Effectiveness of pegylated interferon and ribavirin in patients with liver HCV cirrhosis.

Moreno Planas JM, Rubio González E, Boullosa Graña E, Fernández Ruiz M, Jiménez Garrido M, Lucena de la Poza JL, Martínez Arrieta F, Molina Miliani C, Sánchez Turrión V, Cuervas-Mons Martínez V

Liver Transplant Unit, Hospital Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain. josemariamoren@mixmail.com

Clearance of HCV before transplantation could avoid recurrence of hepatitis C in the liver allograft, thereby improving graft and patient survival. We report our experience with combined therapy for patients with HCV cirrhosis, including 12 patients with biopsy-proven liver cirrhosis (n = 7) or previous cirrhotic complications (n = 5). The Child-Pugh score was A in eight patients and B in four. Two patients had hepatocellular carcinoma. Genotype distribution was 1a (n = 2), 1b (n = 8) or 3 (n = 1). Patients received peginterferon alpha2b (1.5 microg/kg once weekly) and ribavirin (10.6 g/kg per day) for 48 weeks (genotype 1) or 24 weeks (genotype 3). Twenty-one months after beginning therapy all the patients remained alive; three have undergone liver transplantation. In one patient treatment was discontinued after 2 months due to cachexia. End-of-treatment virologic response was achieved in five patients (41.7%) and sustained virologic response in three patients (25%). Patients who cleared the virus had negative PCR 4 weeks after beginning therapy. All patients had adverse events. The most common clinical events were asthenia, weight loss, fever, and anorexia. Infectious complications resolved in three patients (25%). Hematologic events were common. Seven of 11 patients (63.6%) who completed therapy required dose reduction. We conclude that therapy with peginterferon and ribavirin in patients with HCV cirrhosis has a similar effectiveness to previous treatments. A virologic response 1 month after the beginning of therapy could be a main predictor of a sustained response.

Published 3 May 2005 in Transplant Proc, 37(3): 1482-3.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Liver Transplant Research Today. All Rights Reserved.