Long term histological improvement and clearance of intrahepatic hepatitis C virus RNA following sustained response to interferon-ribavirin combination therapy in liver transplanted patients with hepatitis C virus recurrence

摘要

Background and objective: A proportion of liver transplanted patients with recurrent chronic hepatitis have a sustained virological response to combination therapy with interferon plus ribavirin. However, the long term benefit of antiviral therapy with regard to hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA clearance remains unknown in patients with HCV recurrence. This study examined the long term biochemical, virological, and histological outcome in transplanted patients with recurrent chronic hepatitis who had a sustained virological response to antiviral therapy.