Treatment of acute hepatitis C virus infection with alpha interferon in patients on hemodialysis (original) (raw)

2005, Saudi journal of kidney diseases and transplantation : an official publication of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, Saudi Arabia

To evaluate the response to alpha-interferon (INF) in patients who develop acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during hemodialysis, we studied 17 patients who had infection while on dialysis. We administered three million units of alpha interferon subcutaneously to nine adult patients three times per week for 12 weeks; the rest of the patients served as controls. The patients in both groups were followed for 24 months after the diagnosis of seroconversion to anti-HCV antibody. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, anti-HCV antibody levels and HCV- poly chain reaction (HCV-PCR) were performed at regular intervals during the follow-up. Two patients in the treatment group dropped out; one because of colitis and another because of non-compliance. Of the seven patients who completed the course of therapy, all the patients had normal serum ALT levels in 2-8 weeks of therapy, three (42%) patients converted back to anti-HCV antibodies negative and six (86%) had HCV-PCR negative a...

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