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Treatment with interferon plus ribavirin in anti-HIV negative patients with congenital coagulation disorders and chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected hemophiliacs respond at low rate to interferon (IFN) monotherapy.


AIMS
To assess efficacy of IFN and RBV in HIV negative hemophiliacs with chronic hepatitis C and identify early predictive factors of response.


METHODS
Twenty naive patients were treated with interferon and RBV for twelve months. Response was assessed by both serial ALT and HCV RNA levels.


RESULTS
Normalization of ALT with clearance of HCV RNA occurred in seven (35%) patients. Age and age at infection were the only features associated with a higher likelihood of response. In all responders the viral load had decreased by at least one log within two months of starting treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Combination of interferon and ribavirin is well tolerated by hemophiliacs who achieve similar sustained response rates to non-hemophiliacs. Quantitative assessment of viral load at two months of treatment is a useful method to identify non-responders at an early stage.