Linked Life Data

11291254

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11291254

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-4-6
pubmed:abstractText
An important subset of patients with chronic hepatitis C have normal ALT levels despite having detectable HCV RNA in serum. These patients are typically identified after donating blood and being found positive for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV). A strict definition of this patient population is needed, which should include the presence of anti-HCV, detectable HCV RNA by PCR and persistently normal ALT levels. These patients are usually asymptomatic, but on liver biopsy almost all have histologic evidence of chronic hepatitis. The histologic findings generally are mild, and cirrhosis is rare. The long-term outcome of this group of patients with chronic HCV infection is not known, but the prognosis is probably good. In small, uncontrolled trials of IFN-alpha in patients with normal ALT levels, end-of-treatment virologic responses occurred in 42% of patients, and sustained responses 6 to 12 months afterwards in 13% of patients. These rates of response are not very different from those reported in patients with elevated ALT levels. Importantly, in most studies, serum ALT levels became elevated during IFN therapy in approximately one half of patients, and levels remained elevated in some of these patients after therapy. These findings suggest that IFN-alpha therapy is not usually beneficial and may be harmful in chronic hepatitis C patients with normal ALT levels. Combination therapy with IFN and ribavirin has not been evaluated in this group of patients.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1089-3261
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
3
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
843-53
pubmed:dateRevised
2005-11-16
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Treatment of hepatitis C patients with normal aminotransferases levels.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Hepatology, INSERM U-481, Clichy, France.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review