Correction of neutropenia in patients with chronic hepatitis C, depending on the stage of liver fibrosis

Abstract

The use of standard antiviral therapy (pegIFN plus ribavirin) in treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C is often associated with the development of hematologic side effects, neutropenia particularly. Correction of interferon-induced neutropenia can be made by both dose modification and using of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF). The article presents an analysis of the impact of different methods of correction on the effectiveness of the antiviral therapy in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C, depending on the stage of liver fi brosis. It has been shown that the use of G-CSF provides a higher rate of sustained virological response than modification of interferon dosage in patients with moderate liver fibrosis as well as in patients with advanced stages.