Management of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation: A concisereview

Recurrent hepatitis C infection and subsequent graft failure are increasing ly recognized problems after orthotopic liver transplantation. Although man y prospective therapeutic, controlled trials in primary hepatitis C disease have been reported, large-scale studies are yet to be performed in patient s with posttransplant recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation. In this review, we summarize the current literature on the therapeutic approa ches for recurrent hepatitis C and discuss the results of published studies on therapy with ribavirin or interferon (IFN) alone and on combination the rapy with IFN plus ribavirin. Further, we discuss results of prophylactic a pproaches to the problem of recurrent hepatitis C after transplant. Finally , we discuss additional aspects of anti-hepatitis C virus therapy after liv er transplantation. (Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:2164-2170. (C) 2000 by Am. Cell. of Gastroenterology).