Hepatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hepatitis, including details on hepatitis a, b, c, causes, symptoms. | ||||||||
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Long-term therapeutic efficacy of lamivudine compared with interferon-alpha in children with chronic hepatitis B: the younger the better.Choe BH, Lee JH, Jang YC, Jang CH, Oh KW, Kwon S, Hyun MC, Ko CW, Lee KS, Lee WK Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. bhchoi@mail.knu.ac.kr OBJECTIVES: To assess and compare the long-term therapeutic response to lamivudine compared with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in children with chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: A total of 40 children (27 male; age, 1.3-18 y, mean, 7.7 y) with chronic hepatitis B who received lamivudine for at least 12 months were followed for a mean period of 39 (24-76) months. Their treatment efficacy was historically compared with that of 19 children (14 male; age, 2.1-17 y; mean, 10 y) who had been treated with IFN-alpha and were followed for a mean period of 39 (24-104) months. Therapeutic responses were compared at 2 y after the initiation of either of the treatment methods. RESULTS: Two years after the initiation of treatment, the results for children treated with lamivudine versus IFN-alpha were as follows: hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion occurred in 26 (65%) of the 40 children versus 7 (37%) of the 19 children, P < 0.05. In the lamivudine-treated group, the results for children treated before the age of 7 versus age >7 were as follows: HBeAg seroconversion occurred in 17 (89%) of the 19 children versus 9 (43%) of the 21 children, P < 0.01, and loss of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) occurred in 8 (42%) versus 0%, P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term treatment of lamivudine led to significant improvement in the seroconversion rate of HBeAg in children with chronic hepatitis B compared with IFN-alpha therapy. Furthermore, in preschool-age children, it led to significant improvement in the seroconversion rate of HBeAg and HBsAg compared with school-age children. Published 5 January 2007 in J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr, 44(1): 92-8.
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