Management of hepatitis C virus infection in childhood
Journal Title: Annals of Hepatology - Year 2010, Vol 9, Issue 0
Abstract
Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a worldwide health problem with more than 170 million infected individuals. In children, since 1992 almost all infections occurred through vertical transmission from an infected mother to her newborn infant. Natural history of HCV infection in children is not yet well defined, most children are asymptomatic and may remain so for decades. Most infected individuals (60-80%), regardless of their age at infection, become chronically infected with HCV. Spontaneous resolution in children appears to be infrequent. Positive HCV antibody implicate that patient has been exposed to the virus (EIA test). To discriminate between active or resolved HCV viral infection it is necessary to perform HCV RNA (PCR). Liver biopsy assess degree of liver injury and exclude concurrent diseases. HCV chronic infection is slow progressive in childhood. Progression of fibrosis seems to be a function of infection duration. Treatment objective is clearance of HCVRNA. IFNa is recognized as the drug approved for hepatitis C treatment in pediatric population. Combination therapy with IFNa or pegylated IFNa plus ribavirin is recently approved by US FDA and EMEA and clinical trials are in progress.
Authors and Affiliations
Marcela Galoppo, Cristina Galoppo
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP77971
- DOI -
- Views 121
- Downloads 0
Endoscopic variceal band ligation compared with propranolol for prophylaxis of first variceal bleeding
Administration of nonselective beta-blockers in prophylaxis of first variceal bleeding is not suitable for all patients. Thus, we evaluated endoscopic variceal band ligation (EVBL) in primary prevention of bleeding in pa...
Is intestinal oxidative stress involved in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis?
Background. Liver cirrhosis is associated with intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction, which may be affected by oxidative stress.Studies in cirrhotic rats provided evidence for intestinal oxidative stress, but studie...
Therapeutic Effect of HGF on NASH Mice Through HGF/c-Met and JAK2-STAT3 Signalling Pathway
Introduction and aim. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to ameliorate liver inflammation and fibrosis; however, the mechanism underlying its effects in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is unclear. This st...
Fatigue and depressive symptoms associated with chronic viral hepatitis patients. health-related quality of life (HRQO
Background and rationale. It is well established that chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) negatively affects patients . health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of the present study was to assess the extent to which fat...
Impact of creatinine values on MELD scores in male and female candidates for liver transplantation
[b]Introduction[/b]. A systematic bias against women, resulting from the use of creatinine as a measure of renal function, has been identified in Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD)-based liver allocation. Correctio...