Immediate virological response predicts the success of shortterm peg-interferon monotherapy for chronic hepatitis C

AIM:To investigate the efficacy of short-term peginterferon(PEG-IFN)monotherapy for chronic hepatitis C patients who achieved an immediate virological response.METHODS:Defining an"immediate virological response(IVR)"as the loss of serum hepatitis C virus(HCV) RNA 7 d after the first administration of PEG-IFNα,we conducted a 12-wk course of PEG-IFNα2a monotherapy without the addition of ribavirin for 38 patients who had low pretreatment HCV RNA load and exhibited IVR.The patients included 21 men and 17 women...