title: Peginterferon alpha and ribavirin combination therapy in patients with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pegylated interferon (peginterferon) and ribavirin combination therapy is less effective and associated with a higher frequency of serious complications in chronic hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis than in noncirrhotic patients. This study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of peginterferon and ribavirin treatment in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six patients with clinically diagnosed liver cirrhosis were treated with either peginterferon alpha-2a (n=51) or peginterferon alpha-2b (n=35) plus ribavirin. The sustained virologic response (SVR) and adverse effects were analyzed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 86 patients (55 males), 48 patients (55.8%) had HCV genotype 1 infection and 38 (44.2%) had genotype non-1 infection. The overall SVR rate was 34.9% (30/86), and the rates of SVR in the genotype 1 and non-1 patients were 20.8% (10/48) and 52.6% (20/38), respectively. The multivariate analysis revealed that having HCV genotype 1 (P=0.003) and high baseline viral load (<8.0×10(5) IU/mL, P=0.012) were the independent predictive factors for SVR failure. In 20.9% (18/86) of the patients, treatment was not completed due to adverse events (27.8%), loss to follow-up (50.0%), and other reasons (22.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peginterferon and ribavirin combination therapy was relatively effective and feasible for clinically diagnosed HCV patients, especially in those with genotype non-1 infection and low baseline viral load.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byoung Kuk
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Jae Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Young Oh
authors.initials: YO
authors.lastname: Kweon
authors.forename: Won Young
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Tak
authors.forename: Heon Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chang Hyeong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jeong Ill
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C417083:peginterferon alfa-2b; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a
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