[Incidence of Thyroid Dysfunction among chronic hepatitis C Egyptian patients treated with Interferon/Ribavirin therapy]

Background/Aim: The use of pegylated interferon-alpha [IFN-alpha] and ribavirin is still an integral part of the standard of care treatment of chronic hepatitis C [CHC] in Egypt until the present time, even after introducing the new era of direct acting antiviral drugs. Such regimens are accompanied by the production of autoantibodies that carries the risk of development of thyroid dysfunction [TD]. The study tries to describe the incidence, long-term outcome, and predictors of TD among Egyptian patients with CHC receiving IFN-based treatment

Patients and Methods: Between January 2013 and August 2014, a prospective study design was conducted to include naive CHC patients [virologically and histopathologically proved] enrolled for INFbased therapy with normal thyroid function profile

Results: A total of 400 patients [mean age was 37.4+9.6 years, 18% were females] were included. At the end of the study period, 12.3% of patients [n=49] developed biochemical TD [TSH<0.3 or >5.0 mIU/L]. At the 12th week after the end of antiviral therapy, 67.3% of them [n=33] were spontaneously normalized. At the 24[th] week, 14.3% of the remaining [n=7] had spontaneously normalized. Female gender was significantly associated with the development of TD

Conclusions: The incidence of TD among the Egyptian patients treated by INF-based antiviral therapy for CHC is not low and more predominant in females. Spontaneous recovery after the end of treatment was common however, it entails a strict follow up

Role of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Radiofrequency ablation [RFA] is a promising technique for local control of liver malignancy such as primary hepatocellular carcinoma. This technique has become the main stream of the treatment of non-surgical modalities in clinical settings. A study was conducted to assess the therapeutic efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for small and medium sized hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]. Patients and Thirty five cirrhotic patients [M:F; 28:7, age; 57.4 +/- 7.8 years] each with solitary HCC mass lesion [mean size; 3.01 +/- 0.82cm] were consecutively recruited at Assiut University Hospital between August 2007 and November 2009. HCC was diagnosed by raised alpha-fetoprotein [AFF] and contrast-enhanced CT. Lesions were stratified into 2 groups; "Group A ". lesions <3cm [n=22] and "Group B ". lesions 3-5cm [n=13]. Single session RFA was done and all patients were followed-up with AFP and contrast-enhanced CT after one month and 6 months post-procedure. Complete ablation was achieved in 77.1% [27/35] of patients after one-month [81.8% [18/22] in group A and 69.2% [9/13] in group B; p=0.3] Local recurrence was noticed in 3 patients after 6 months [one in group A and 2 in group B]. AFP levels were significantly reduced in both groups after one month and 6-months follow-up. No major complications occurred in all patients treated by RFA. RFA is less effective in ablating medium sized HCC [3-5cm] than in ablating small sized HCC <3cm. The procedure is safe, effective and without major complications