Effectiveness and tolerability of pegylated Interferon alpha-2a and ribavirin combination therapy in Romanian patients with chronic hepatitis C: from clinical trials to clinical practice.

Background And Aim: Pegylated interferon alpha in combination with ribavirin represents nowadays the gold standard therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The aim of this study was to assess early (EVR) and sustained virological response (SVR), tolerability and baseline predictive factors for SVR in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with peginterferon alpha-2a and ribavirin combination therapy in day-to-day clinical practice.

Methods: The analysis included 174 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C (naive, relapsers and non-responders after standard therapy) managed in two expertise gastroenterology centers in Romania, mainly on an outpatient basis.

Frequency and predictive factors for overlap syndrome between autoimmune hepatitis and primary cholestatic liver disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of cholestatic pattern in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and to identify predictive factors associated with the development of the overlap syndrome.

Methods: Eighty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with AIH at the referral centre between January 1998 and June 2002 were included in the study. The new scoring system modified by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group was used to classify patients as definite/probable.

Overlap syndrome between autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma.

The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma superimposed in the evolution of autoimmune hepatitis or primary biliary cirrhosis is low, even in patients with long-standing cirrhosis. We report a case of hepatocellular carcinoma occurring in a 46 year old woman with liver cirrhosis following overlap syndrome between autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis, routinely followed while on the waiting list for liver transplantation. The patient had combined biochemical (elevated aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase in the range of 2-3 times above the upper limit of the normal) and serological (anti-smooth muscle antibody > 1/80 and anti-mitochondrial antibody anti-M2 > 1/40) criteria of autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

Infliximab for Crohn's disease in clinical practice: the experience of a single center in romania.

Aim: The aim of the study was to report the efficacy and tolerability of infliximab therapy in the first 24 patients with refractory and fistulizing Crohn's disease (CD) treated at our center between August 2000-May 2002.

Patients And Methods: The medical records of 24 patients (13 males, 11 females) treated with infliximab for refractory or fistulizing CD were reviewed. CD was diagnosed using conventional clinical, endoscopical and histological criteria.