Summary

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected hemophiliacsrespond at low rate to interferon (IFN) monotherapy. Aims. To assessefficacy of IFN and RBV in HIV negative hemophiliacs with chronichepatitis C and identify early predictive factors of response. Methods.Twenty naive patients were treated with interferon and RBV for twelvemonths. Response was assessed by both serial ALT and HCV RNAlevels. Results. Normalization of ALT with clearance of HCV RNAoccurred in seven (35%) patients. Age and age at infection were theonly features associated with a higher likelihood of response. In allresponders the viral load had decreased by at least one log within twomonths of starting treatment. Conclusions. Combination of interferonand ribavirin is well tolerated by hemophiliacs who achieve similarsustained response rates to non-hemophiliacs. Quantitative assessmentof viral load at two months of treatment is a useful method to identifynon-responders at an early stage.