Wazir Muhammad Shaikh, Majid Ahmed Shaikh, Solangi G A, Zuberi B F.
Role of Interferon and Interferon plus Ribavirin in the management of Chronic Hepatitis C.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;12(10):609-12.

Objective: Chronic hepatitis due to C virus may regress with Interferon-alpha-2b (INF) therapy. Forty percent cases have an initial response to this therapy, but most relapse after stopping therapy. Because of this limited response, alternative forms of therapy including combining interferon with other antiviral agents have been investigated. Hence this study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of INF alone or in combination with ribavirin. Design: A prospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of medicine, Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana from July 1996 to June 2001. Patients and Methods: A total of 82 patients with biopsy proven chronic liver disease due to HCV and raised serum amino-transferase (ALT) present for at least a period of 6 months were included in this study. Forty patients received INF therapy alone (group I) and 42 received INF alongwith ribavirin (group II) for 6 months. Results: HCV RNA showed sustained response for HCV RNA in 11 (27.5%) and 30 (71.4%) patients of groups I and II respectively. While as sustained response with sernm ALT was noted in 5 (12.5%) and 18 (42.9%) patients of each group. Twenty-eight patients of group I, 32-patients of group I and II underwent repeat liver biopsies after 6- months of the stoppage of treatment. The histologic activity index score improved in 11 (39.3%) and 21 (65.6 %) patients of group I and II respectively (Odds ratio 2.5, 95% C.I. p < 0.001). Conclusion: : The current study supports the hypothesis that INF plus ribavirin has greater efficacy than INF alone.

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