Five-year follow-up of patients with primary antibody deficiencies following an outbreak of acute hepatitis C.
This report is the 5-year follow-up of those 25 UK patients with primary antibody deficiencies infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), type 1a, from one batch of contaminated anti-HCV-screened intravenous immunoglobulin in 1993-1994. Of these patients, who were reported previously (1, 2), 2 cleared HCV spontaneously, 18 received early interferon-alpha (IFN) treatment for 6 months, and 5 declined treatment or treatment was contraindicated. The clinical course of this cohort was followed prospectively using serial standardized questionnaires. Seven patients (54% of those who had completed therapy) had a sustained response (normal transaminase levels, negative serum HCV RNA) for 5 years posttreatment. Eight patients died: 3 from decompensated cirrhosis, 2 from pneumonia but with evidence of liver failure, and 3 from unrelated causes. One further patient developed decompensated cirrhosis but was successfully transplanted. Seven patients remain chronically infected; only 1 patient is symptomatic but 1 further patient has evidence of progressive fibrosis on liver histology. In conclusion, within 5 years, rapid end-stage HCV liver disease has been seen in 6/25 (24%) patients. Seven patients, (54% of those fully treated) remain well after treatment, making 9/25 (36% of the cohort) clear of virus after 5 years. Those who completed early treatment with IFN had a relatively high sustained response rate compared to previous studies in both immunodeficient and immunocompetent patients.
Chapel
H M
HM
Department of Clinical Immunology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, England.
Christie
J M
JM
Peach
V
V
Chapman
R W
RW
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral