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Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient

Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and disease-related complications – among them cirrhosis and liver failure – pose a particular management challenge. Some of these patients may fail to respond to current therapy (non-responders), and some are affected so severely that treatmen...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kemmer, Nyingi, Neff, Guy W
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18036096
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-3231.2007.01613.x
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author Kemmer, Nyingi
Neff, Guy W
author_facet Kemmer, Nyingi
Neff, Guy W
author_sort Kemmer, Nyingi
collection PubMed
description Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and disease-related complications – among them cirrhosis and liver failure – pose a particular management challenge. Some of these patients may fail to respond to current therapy (non-responders), and some are affected so severely that treatment puts them at an unacceptable risk for complications. Treatment with pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) plus ribavirin improves hepatic enzyme levels and eradicates the virus in ≈50% of patients; however, a significant number of patients do not respond to therapy or relapse following treatment discontinuation. Several viral, hepatic and patient-related factors influence response to IFN therapy; many of these factors cannot be modified to improve long-term outcomes. Identifying risk factors and measuring viral load early in the treatment can help to predict response to IFN therapy and determine the need to modify or discontinue treatment. Retreatment options for patients who have failed therapy are limited. Retreatment with peg-IFN has been successful in some patients who exhibit an inadequate response to conventional IFN treatment, particularly those who have relapsed. Consensus IFN, another option in treatment-resistant patients, has demonstrated efficacy in the retreatment of non-responders and relapsers. Although the optimal duration of retreatment and the benefits and safety of maintenance therapy have not been determined, an extended duration is likely needed. This article reviews the risk factors for HCV treatment resistance and discusses the assessment and management of difficult-to-treat patients.
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spelling pubmed-27794642009-11-24 Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient Kemmer, Nyingi Neff, Guy W Liver Int Review Article Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and disease-related complications – among them cirrhosis and liver failure – pose a particular management challenge. Some of these patients may fail to respond to current therapy (non-responders), and some are affected so severely that treatment puts them at an unacceptable risk for complications. Treatment with pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) plus ribavirin improves hepatic enzyme levels and eradicates the virus in ≈50% of patients; however, a significant number of patients do not respond to therapy or relapse following treatment discontinuation. Several viral, hepatic and patient-related factors influence response to IFN therapy; many of these factors cannot be modified to improve long-term outcomes. Identifying risk factors and measuring viral load early in the treatment can help to predict response to IFN therapy and determine the need to modify or discontinue treatment. Retreatment options for patients who have failed therapy are limited. Retreatment with peg-IFN has been successful in some patients who exhibit an inadequate response to conventional IFN treatment, particularly those who have relapsed. Consensus IFN, another option in treatment-resistant patients, has demonstrated efficacy in the retreatment of non-responders and relapsers. Although the optimal duration of retreatment and the benefits and safety of maintenance therapy have not been determined, an extended duration is likely needed. This article reviews the risk factors for HCV treatment resistance and discusses the assessment and management of difficult-to-treat patients. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007-12 /pmc/articles/PMC2779464/ /pubmed/18036096 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-3231.2007.01613.x Text en © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Review Article
Kemmer, Nyingi
Neff, Guy W
Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title_full Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title_fullStr Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title_full_unstemmed Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title_short Managing chronic hepatitis C in the difficult-to-treat patient
title_sort managing chronic hepatitis c in the difficult-to-treat patient
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18036096
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-3231.2007.01613.x
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