الفهرس 
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Abstract
At the present time, the optimal regimen for chronic HCV
infection appears to be the combination of pegylated Interferon
alpha and Ribavirin which yield sustained virological response
(SVR) rate of about 55%.
The main aim of this study is evaluation of pretreatment
serum ferritin levels as a predictor for early & rapid virological
response in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients receiving
combined pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin therapy. This study was conducted on 70 patients with CHC virus
infection. All patients were subjected to full history taking.
Thorough clinical examination. Continuous monitoring of liver
profile (to detect elevation of liver enzymes). Continuous
monitoring of iron profile. Monitoring of the viral response one
and 12 months (4 and 12 weeks) of the treatment by the
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of the viral RNA. The study included 70 patients divided:
A. According to RVR:
• Thirty seven patients who achieved rapid virological
response.
• Thirty three patients who didn’t achieve rapid
virological response.
B. According to EVR:
• Fourty six patients who achieved Early Virological
Response.
• Twenty four patients who didn’t achieve Early
Virological Response. In our study, we found that the level of pretreatment serum
ferritin has no impact on either rapid virological response or early
virological response. In contrast, we found that the highest value
for serum ferritin during the first 12 weeks of the antiviral therapy
was higher in the EVR group when compared to the non EVR
with significant statistical difference. It is speculated that serum ferritin levels during therapy are
an indirect marker for interferon effects, the greater the serum
ferritin level, the greater the interferon effect, and indeed in our
study it was demonstrated that patients who had early virological
response had higher on-treatment serum ferritin levels during the
first 12 weeks of treatment. As regard the viral load, we’ve found that lower pretreatment
viral load is an indicator of better rates of response at week 4 of
treatment using the combined therapy.