title: Hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation: Viral and histologic response to full-dose PEG-interferon and ribavirin.
abstract: Hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) is universal, and frequently leads to cirrhosis and death. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of 48-weeks of full-dose peg-interferon-alpha-2a (n = 4) or alpha-2b (n = 51) plus ribavirin (>11 mg/kg/day) in a multicentric cohort of 55 patients > or =12 months after LT. All subjects had histologically proven HCV recurrence, excluding severe cholestatic recurrence. Mean age was 54.3 +/- 9.7, 77% male, 90.9% genotype 1, 32.7% cirrhotics. All but 5 patients received monotherapy with tacrolimus (54.5%), cyclosporine (30.7%) or mycophenolate mofetil (5.5%). The rates of end-of-treatment response and sustained virological response (SVR) were 66.7% and 43.6%, respectively. Low baseline HCV-RNA (p = 0.005) and a length from LT to therapy between 2-4 years (p = 0.011) were predictors of SVR. The lack of achieving a viral load decrease > or =1-log10 at week 4 and/or 2-log10 at week 12 was 100% predictive of failure. The most frequent side effects were neutropenia (76,4%), anemia (60%) and infectious complications (30.9%). Toxicity led to peg-interferon withdrawal in 16 (29%) subjects. In 15 patients with post-treatment biopsy, the histological activity index was significantly improved (p = 0.006), whereas fibrosis did not change (p = 0.14). Three patients died (cholangitis, hepatic artery thrombosis and lung cancer). In conclusion, HCV therapy after LT was very effective, although it led to a significant rate of toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Liver-gastroenterology Department, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oton
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barcena
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Moreno-Planas
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cuervas-Mons
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreno-Zamora
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garcia-Garzon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boullosa-Graña
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Rubio-Gonzalez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia-Gonzalez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blesa
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Mateos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a