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Treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C with normal liver enzymes
1Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Objective:
This is a controlled prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of induction combination therapy using alpha-interferon and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal liver enzymes.
Methods:
Forty-six patients with compensated liver disease tested positive for hepatitis C virus antibody between October 1998 and August 2000 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital and Al-Badriyah Towers, Jeddah Clinics, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Twelve patients had persistently normal liver enzymes for 6 months and 34 patients with abnormal liver enzymes (control). Patients were treated using induction combination therapy. Viral load response was measured using branched deoxyribonucleic acid signal amplification test.
Results:
Ten patients with normal liver enzymes (Group A) and 30 patients with abnormal liver enzymes (Group B) were included. End of treatment response in Group A was 90% as compared to 60% in group B; sustained virologic response in group A was 40% as compared to 43.3% in Group B.
Conclusion:
Response rate to induction combination therapy with alpha-interferon and ribavirin in patients with normal liver enzymes was similar to that in those with increase liver enzymes.
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