ABSTRACT
Background: patients with inherited bleeding disorders who regularly receive clotting factors are frequently infected with hepatitis C virus [HCV]. Liver biopsy in these patients is high-risk and not always performed. There is no report on pegylated interferon [PEG-IFN] and ribavirin in patients with bleeding disorders in whom no histologic data is available
Aim: to assess the safety and efficacy of combined PEG-IFN alfa-2a and ribavirin in patients with inherited bleeding disorders and hepatitis C. Methods: We studied 37 patients with inherited bleeding disorders and HCV infection. Patients where planned to receive pegylated interferon alfa 2a [PEG-IFN alfa-2a] 180 micg weekly and ribavirin 800mg daily for 48 weeks. They were then followed for 24 weeks after the end of treatment
Results: early virologic response at week 12 of treatment was achieved in 3 1/34 patients [91%] and end-of-treatment response was achieved in 30/3 1 patients [97%]. Sustained virologic response was 26/32 [81%] and 26/35 [74%] on per-protocol and intention-to-treat analysis respectively. Dose reduction due to adverse effects was necessary in 11 patients
Conclusion: the combination of PEG-IFN alpha 2a and ribavirin is safe and highly effective in patients with inherited bleeding disorders and HCV infection, even when histologic data is absent