Search results for "CHRONIC HEPATITIS"

Treatment of chronic hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa: 1-year results of a pilot program in Ethiopia

2018

Background The World Health Organization has set an ambitious goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is virtually unavailable. Herein, we present the 1-year results of a pilot CHB treatment program in Ethiopia. Methods At a public hospital in Addis Ababa, CHB patients were treated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate based on simplified eligibility criteria. Baseline assessment included liver function tests, viral markers, and transient elastography (Fibroscan). Changes in laboratory markers were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Adherence to therapy was measured by …

Long-term follow-up of hepatitis C virus-positive patients with persistently normal serum transaminases

2013

Material and methods. This study prospectively evaluated the progression of liver disease in a group of anti-HCV-positive patients with persistently normal ALT levels (PNALT) who were HCV-RNA positive. Patients selected for this study were those who presented with PNALT according to the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF) criteria in the year 1995/96 and underwent liver biopsy. They were divided into two groups according to their ALT evolution. Forty-five patients were included in this study. Results. After a median follow-up time of 180 months twenty-five of them maintained PNALT, but two of these developed liver cirrhosis (LC) in a mean time of 174 and 202 months, respec…

Transient elastography compared to serum markers to predict liver fibrosis in a cohort of Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

2015

Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography (FibroScan) is a useful tool to assess fibrosis in various chronic liver diseases. However, studies were mainly performed in Western countries and largely focused on chronic hepatitis C (CHC). We therefore carried out a multicenter study to validate the accuracy of LSM in the assessment of liver fibrosis in a large cohort of Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).We compared LSM results to histological staging and serum fibrosis markers (five direct markers, APRI and FIB-4) using Spearman correlation analysis and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUROCs).Four hundred sixty-nine patients were enr…

The WHO guidelines for chronic hepatitis B fail to detect half of the patients in need of treatment in Ethiopia

2019

Background & Aims In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines for the management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in low- and middle-income countries, but little is known about the applicability of the WHO treatment criteria in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the WHO guidelines in a large CHB cohort in Ethiopia. Methods Treatment-naive adults who attended a public CHB clinic in Addis Ababa were included in this analysis. All patients underwent a standardized evaluation at recruitment, including blood tests and transient elastography (Fibroscan®). A Fibroscan result >7.9 kPa was used to define significant fibrosis and >9.…

Problems in the management of chronic hepatitis B with interferon: experience in a randomized, multicentre study.

1990

In a multicentre trial, 82 patients known to be hepatitis B e antigen and hepatitis B virus DNA positive for at least 1 year, with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase levels and chronic liver lesions on biopsy, were randomized to receive either recombinant interferon alfa-2a at a dose of 4.5 million units thrice weekly for 4 months or no treatment. At the end of therapy, viral DNA clearance and aminotransferase normalization were significantly (p less than 0.05) more frequent in treated patients than in controls. After 16 months' follow up, the difference was still significant for hepatitis B e antigen clearance and transaminase normalization. Hepatitis B virus DNA reactivation was obse…

HBV DNA suppression and HBsAg clearance in HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B patients on lamivudine therapy for over 5 years

2012

Background & Aims In long-term responder patients, it is unclear whether lamivudine (LAM) monotherapy should be continued or switched to a high-genetic-barrier analogue. This study aims at assessing LAM efficacy over a 5-year period and the residual risk of drug resistance. The rate of HBsAg clearance and LAM long-term safety profile were also evaluated. Methods One hundred and ninety-one patients with chronic HBeAg-negative hepatitis B successfully treated with LAM monotherapy for at least 5years were included. Biochemical and virological tests were assessed every 3months in all patients and HBsAg quantification was performed in 45/191. Reverse-transcriptase (RT) region was directly sequen…

Sustained response after lamivudine treatment in HBe minus chronic hepatitis B

2004

Occult HBV infection and suppression of HCV replication in the early phase of combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C

2003

Occult HBV infection in subjects with chronic hepatitis C is related to more severe disease outcome. It has been suggested that it might reduce sensitivity to antiviral treatment.To assess in HBsAg negative subjects with chronic hepatitis C any effect of the presence of HBV genomes in the liver on the early kinetics of HCV-RNA under PEG-IFN plus ribavirin.Twenty-two anti-HCV and HCV-RNA positive subjects, with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C (M/F 15/7; 50 +/- 8.6 years, 16 genotype 1b) were given PEG-IFN alpha 2b 1.0 microg qw plus ribavirin (800 to 1,200 mg daily according to body weight) for an intended 52 week period. Early virological response was assessed over the first 4 weeks of th…

Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in chronic hepatitis C patients with normal or elevated aminotransferase before and after alpha-interfe…

2001

<i>Objectives:</i> Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) plays a fundamental role during liver inflammation. In fact, weak ICAM-1 expression is physiologically restricted to the endothelium of portal vessels and to sinusoidal lining cells, but it becomes markedly evident on sinusoidal lining cells and at the surface of hepatocytes during inflammatory liver diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) in chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) patients with persistently normal aminotransferase in comparison with patients with CH-C and elevated aminotransferase, and its changes during α-interferon (IFN) therapy. Immunohistochemical localization…

Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

2007

Summary.  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a significant reduction of health related quality of life (QOL), the causes and mechanisms of which are still unknown. To explore whether treatment history could affect QOL, we examined patients with detectable HCV viraemia who had a different therapeutic background. Two hundred sixty-four consecutive subjects with chronic HCV infection and detectable viraemia were enrolled. Of these, 163 were untreated patients, 43 were relapsers, 58 were nonresponders (NR) to nonpegylated interferon (IFN) therapy. To assess QOL, three self-report instruments were employed: the Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLD…