RESUMO
Treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia major patients is complicated by existing hepatic siderosis and the fear of ribavirin-associated haemolysis. We evaluated the efficacy and side-effects of combination interferon-alpha (INF) and ribavirin therapy for HCV-infected thalassaemia patients. A total of 17 patients were enrolled (10 nonresponders to INF monotherapy, 7 naive to treatment, mean age 23.1 years) and they received 12 months of combination therapy. The sustained virological response rate 6 months after treatment was 58.8%. Blood transfusion requirements during treatment temporarily increased by 36.6%. Combination therapy was tolerated by, and may be useful for, HCV-infected thalassaemia major patients.
Assuntos
Antivirais/uso terapêutico , Hepatite C Crônica/complicações , Hepatite C Crônica/tratamento farmacológico , Interferon Tipo I/uso terapêutico , Ribavirina/uso terapêutico , Talassemia beta/complicações , Adolescente , Adulto , Alanina Transaminase/sangue , Biópsia , Transfusão de Sangue/estatística & dados numéricos , Monitoramento de Medicamentos , Quimioterapia Combinada , Feminino , Ferritinas/sangue , Hemossiderose/etiologia , Hemossiderose/prevenção & controle , Hepacivirus/efeitos dos fármacos , Hepacivirus/genética , Hepatite C Crônica/metabolismo , Hepatite C Crônica/virologia , Humanos , Irã (Geográfico) , Masculino , RNA Viral/sangue , RNA Viral/efeitos dos fármacos , Proteínas Recombinantes , Reação Transfusional , Resultado do Tratamento , Talassemia beta/sangue , Talassemia beta/terapiaRESUMO
Treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection in transfusion-dependent betathalassaemia major patients is complicated by existing hepatic siderosis and the fear of ribavirinassociated haemolysis. We evaluated the efficacy and side-effects of combination interferon-alpha [INF] and ribavirin therapy for HCV-infected thalassaemia patients. A total of 17 patients were enrolled [10 nonresponders to INF monotherapy, 7 naive to treatment, mean age 23.1 years] and they received 12 months of combination therapy. The sustained virological response rate 6 months after treatment was 58.8%. Blood transfusion requirements during treatment temporarily increased by 36.6%. Combination therapy was tolerated by, and may be useful for, HCV-infected thalassaemia major patients
