Karen L. Lindsay – 10 February 2006 – Since the 1997 National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on management of hepatitis C there have been several important advances that significantly impact its therapy; notably the availability of sensitive, specific, and standardized assays for identifying hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in the serum, the addition of ribavirin to alpha interferon, the pegylation of alpha interferon, and the demonstration that sustained virological response (SVR) is the optimal surrogate endpoint of treatment.

10 February 2006

10 February 2006

10 February 2006

10 February 2006

Leonard B. Seeff – 10 February 2006 – Much controversy surrounds the issue of the natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Many authorities view the disease as inexorably progressive with a high probability of advancing over time to cirrhosis and occasionally hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and, therefore, likely to be responsible for causing death.

10 February 2006

10 February 2006

Bruce R. Bacon – 10 February 2006 – Approximately 30% of patients with chronic hepatitis C have normal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and another 40% have ALT levels that are less than twice the upper limit of the normal range. Most patients with normal ALT levels have mild degrees of inflammation with mild or no fibrosis, and the rate of disease progression is reduced compared with that in patients with elevated ALT levels. Some patients with normal ALT levels have advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis on liver biopsy.

Geetanjali Chander, Mark S. Sulkowski, Mollie W. Jenckes, Michael S. Torbenson, H. Franklin Herlong, Eric B. Bass, Kelly A. Gebo – 10 February 2006 – This systematic review addressed 3 issues regarding current treatments for chronic hepatitis C: (1) efficacy and safety in treatment‐naive patients; (2) efficacy and safety in selected subgroups of patients; and (3) effects on long‐term clinical outcomes. Electronic databases were searched for articles from January 1996 to March 2002.