Increased soluble IL-2 receptor levels during interferon and ribavirin treatment are associated with a good response in genotype 2a/2b patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Objectives: Serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) are known to serve as a marker for the activation of T lymphocytes. We measured serum levels of sIL-2R in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) during interferon (IFN)-based treatment to determine the correlation between those levels and therapeutic efficacy, and to clarify whether there is a difference in the activation of T lymphocytes among HCV genotypes after the treatment.

Methods: Forty-four patients received IFN-alpha2b monotherapy (group IFN-M), whereas 82 patients received the combination therapy with IFN-alpha2b and ribavirin (group IFN+R).

Effect of combination therapy with ribavirin and high-dose interferon-alpha2b for 24 weeks in chronic hepatitis C.

Background And Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine whether a 24-week course of combination therapy with ribavirin and high-dose interferon-alpha2b (IFN-alpha2b) could provide an acceptable treatment efficacy in chronic hepatitis C (CHC).

Methods: Seventy-six patients with CHC whose serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels were more than 100 kIU/mL on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay were included. The patients were assigned to two different dose groups of IFN-alpha2b: group A (n = 39) received 6 MU and group B (n = 37) received 10 MU.

EMR of upper GI lesions when using a novel soft, irrigation, prelooped hood.

Background: EMR with a cap-fitted endoscope, including a soft, prelooped hood, is a useful, effective, and safe technique. One problem with this method, however, is that the lesion cannot always be kept in the center of the cap because the procedure is performed blindly after aspiration. A soft, prelooped hood with attached irrigation tube was developed.

Biliary obstruction caused by intrabiliary transplantation from hepatocellular carcinoma.

A rare autopsy case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presenting as extrahepatic bile duct obstruction is reported. A 54-year-old man who had been treated at another hospital for obstructive jaundice was referred to our hospital and admitted on March 1, 1998, because of progressive jaundice. On hospital day 94, he died of bleeding esophageal varices.