Interferon Treatment for Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C and End Stage Renal Disease

Launched by NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL · Sep 12, 2005

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common among patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), with the reported prevalence ranging from 8 to 20% in dialysis patients in developed world. In Taiwan, the estimated prevalence of HCV infection in patients with ESRD who maintain hemodialysis ranges from 20 to 24.7%. Although most studies have provided mild to moderate disease activity and a high proportion of normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, the frequency of bridging hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis ranges from 5 to 32%. Several studies have shown that chronic hepatitis C adve...

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Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age between 18 to 65 years old
• • Creatinine clearance (Ccr) \< 10 ml/min/1.73 m2
• • Receiving regular hemodialysis
• • Anti-HCV (Abbott HCV EIA 2.0, Abbott Diagnostic, Chicago, IL) positive \> 6 months
• • Detectable serum HCV-RNA (Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor v2.0, Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA) with dynamic range 600\~\<500,000 IU/ml
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Neutropenia (neutrophil count, \<1,500/mm3)
• • Thrombocytopenia (platelet \<90,000/ mm3)
• • Co-infection with HBV or HIV
• • Chronic alcohol abuse (daily consumption \> 20 g/day)
• • Decompensated liver disease (Child classification B or C)
• • Neoplastic disease
• • An organ transplant
• • Immunosuppressive therapy
• • Poorly controlled autoimmune diseases, pulmonary diseases, cardiac diseases, psychiatric diseases, neurological diseases, diabetes mellitus
• • Evidence of drug abuse
• • Unwilling to have contraception