A randomised trial of consensus interferon daily dose monotherapy vs. standard combination therapy as initial treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Objective: Only little is known about the optimal regimen of consensus interferon (conIFN) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of conIFN daily dose monotherapy followed by combination therapy with low dose ribavirin compared to standard combination therapy. Methods: 45 naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C were included into this randomised study. The patients received either 9 μg con IFN daily for 12 weeks followed by 9 μg conIFN tiw + 800–1200mg/d ribavirin for another 36 weeks (group A, n=22) or standard therapy of 9 μg con IFN tiw +…