2-YEAR BIOCHEMICAL, VIROLOGICAL, AND HISTOLOGICAL FOLLOW-UP IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C RESPONDING IN A SUSTAINED FASHION TO INTERFERON ALFA-2B TREATMENT

Fourteen patients with chronic hepatitis C who had a sustained respons e to a 60-week interferon alfa-2b treatment course were followed, bioc hemically and virologically, 2 years after treatment cessation, Biopsi es were repeated in 12 of 14 for histological and virological evaluati on at 2-year follow-up. All 14 patients had normal serum alanine trans aminase (s-ALT) levels and were negative for hepatitis C virus (HCV) R NA in serum during treatment and at short-term follow-up 6 months post treatment, At 2-year follow-up, 13 patients still had normal ALT level s (<0.6 mu kat/L for women; <0.8 mu kat/L for men), 1 a near normal le vel (0.76 mu kat/L); all mere HCV RNA negative in serum, and 11 of 12 also in the liver. Liver histology improved during treatment and remai ned stable during the 2-year follow-up. The authors conclude that most sustained responders, who have normal ALT levels and are nonviremic a t short-term follow-up 6 months after interferon treatment, will conti nue to have a durable long-term response without relapse of the viremi a.