Anti-viral treatment of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation

Objective To analyze the curative effect of anti-viral treatment on recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation.Methods Twelve patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation admitted to our hospital from January 2005 to June 2010 were treated with interferon（IFN） plus ribavirin by increasing their dose gradually.Following parameters were observed,including HCVRNA load,rapid viral response（RVR）,early viral response（EVR）,end of treatment viral response（ETVR）,sustained viral response（SVR） to anti-viral therapy and its side effects.Results The mean treatment time for the 12 patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation was 15 months（2-36 months） and 7 patients（58.3%） completed their standard anti-viral treatment.RVR,EVR,ETVR and SVR were achieved in 3（25%）,9（75%）,8（58.3%） and 3（25%） out of the 12 patients.HCVRNA genotype 1 was isolated in 2 and genotype 2 in 1 out of the 3 patients who had a SVR.RVR was achieved in 2 patients and EVR in 3 patients,respectively.Anti-viral treatment was terminated in 5 patients due to neutropenia in 1 patient,acute rejection in 2 patients,severe infection in 1 patient and allergy in 1 patient,respectively.Conclusion The SVR of patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation is low to anti-viral treatment.Side effects of anti-viral treatment should be closely monitored.Colony stimulating factor is beneficial for the patients to complete their anti-viral treatment.