title: Clinical characteristics, spontaneous clearance and treatment outcome of acute hepatitis C: a single tertiary center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Acute hepatitis C is rarely diagnosed due to its predominantly asymptomatic course. However, early treatment results in viral eradication in a high number of patients thus, preventing chronicity. The aim of our study was to describe our experience with patients with acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who presented and followed-up in our liver unit, pointing on treatment strategy, and outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, descriptive study of 30 patients with acute HCV infection (26 males and 4 females) with a mean age of 32 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The source of infection was mainly injection drug use in 17/30 (56.7) and medical procedures 6/30 (20%). Twenty patients (66.6%) were symptomatic. HCV-ribonucleic acid (RNA) was detectable at presentation in 26 (86.7%) patients. The genotype distribution was: 13/26 (50%) genotype 1, 3/26 (11.5%) genotype 2, 8/26 (30.8%) genotype 3 and 2/26 (7.7%) genotype 4. Totally, 9 patients (30%) experienced spontaneous viral eradication. No significant differences could be documented between patients who spontaneously cleared the virus and those who had viral persistence. Thirteen patients (44%) were treated with peginterferon-based regimen. All patients (100%) achieved non-detectable HCV-RNA and had normal serum alanine aminotransferase levels at the end of the treatment. Eleven patients achieved sustained virologic response (SVR), one relapsed and one was lost to follow-up. The overall SVR rate was 84.6%. None of the patients required dose reduction or stopped the treatment due to side effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, early initiation of anti-viral treatment in patients with acute hepatitis C results in high-SVR rates (independently of genotype) and is well-tolerated.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Hippokration General Hospital of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Emilia S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Hadziyannis
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koskinas
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral