Clinical–liver, pancreas, and biliary tractEfficacy of Antiviral Therapy on Hepatitis C Recurrence After Liver Transplantation: A Randomized Controlled Study
Section snippets
Patients
All patients were enrolled at our institution (Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain) between July 2001 and September 2004 (Figure 1). The study protocol was approved by our institution’s Ethical Committee and by the Spanish Health Ministry. All patients gave their written informed consent before entering the study.
Eligible patients were liver transplantation recipients 18 to 70 years of age and who had a diagnosis of hepatitis C recurrence. The diagnosis of hepatitis C recurrence was established
Patient Baseline Characteristics
From July 2001 to September 2004, 54 patients were considered to have a mild hepatitis C recurrence and were randomized to receive pegylated interferon and ribavirin (n = 27) versus no treatment (n = 27). The baseline characteristics of these patients are summarized in Table 1. Except for gender and ALT levels, we did not find significant differences between both groups. A cohort of 27 consecutive patients in whom hepatitis C recurrence was considered severe underwent antiviral treatment during
Discussion
Hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation is the most relevant problem of transplant programs. Liver damage caused by hepatitis C recurrence is accelerated, and cirrhosis develops in a significant proportion of patients only a few years after transplantation.2, 3 Most centers indicate antiviral therapy once a liver biopsy specimen demonstrates the presence of significant histological damage.6, 22 Recent reports suggest that the efficacy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin is higher
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Supported in part by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI 05/1285, FIS 05/0258). José A. Carrión received a grant from Hospital Clínic (Premi Fi de Residència). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00383864.
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Xavier Forns has received research support from Schering-Plough and Roche.