Pegylated interferon-alpha2b plus ribavirin: an efficacious and well-tolerated treatment regimen for patients with hepatitis C virus related histologically proven cirrhosis.

Background: Little is known about the efficacy, safety and tolerability of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis Cvirus (HCV) infection and histologically proven fully established cirrhosis. We aimed here to evaluate the safety of this regimen in such patients and to identify baseline and on-treatment predictors of a sustained virological response (SVR).

Methods: Patients with histologically proven, HCV-induced cirrhosis were randomized to receive pegylated interferon-alpha2b (PEG-IFN-alpha2b; 1.