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Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015
Dispatch

Ribavirin for Chronic Hepatitis Prevention among Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Suzanne Tavitian, Jean-Marie Peron, Françoise Huguet, Nassim Kamar, Florence Abravanel, Odile Beyne-Rauzy, Lucie Oberic, Stanislas Faguer, Laurent Alric, Murielle Roussel, Clément Gaudin, Loïc Ysebaert, Anne Huynh, and Christian RecherComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (S. Tavitian, J.-M. Peron, O. Beyne-Rauzy, L. Alric, C. Gaudin, C. Recher); Institut Universitaire du Cancer, Toulouse, France (S. Tavitian, F. Huguet, O. Beyne-Rauzy, L. Oberic, M. Roussel, L. Ysebaert, A. Huynh, C. Recher); Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, France (J.-.M Peron, N. Kamar, F. Abravanel, S. Faguer, L. Alric, C. Gaudin)

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Table 1

Clinical characteristics of 26 patients subsequently diagnosed with hepatitis E and hematologic malignancy, University Hospital of Toulouse, France, 2003*

Characteristic Value Ribavirin
 p value
Yes, n = 12 No, n = 14
Sex, M/F 17/9 (65/35) 7/5 10/4 0.40
Age, median y (range)†
 59 (21–86)
 55 (21–86)
 63 (33–84)
 0.55
Hematological malignancy
Acute leukemia 9 (34.6) 3 (25) 6 (42.8%) NA
Indolent NHL‡ 8 (26.9) 4 (33.5) 4 (28.6%) NA
Aggressive NHL§ 3 (15.3) 2 (1) 1 (7.2%) NA
Multiple myeloma 3 (11.6) 1 (8.5) 2 (14.3%) NA
Others¶
 3 (11.6)
 2 (17)
 1 (7.2%)
 NA
SCT before or concomitant to hepatitis E
Allogenetic SCT
 1/3
 0/2
 1/1
 NA
Hepatitis E
Serology, n = 23
IgM+ IgG+ 6 (26.1) 2 (16.7) 4 (28.6%) NA
IgM– IgG+ 3 (13) 1 (8.4) 2 (14.3%) NA
IgM+ IgG– 7 (30.5) 3 (25) 4 (28.6%) NA
IgM– IgG–
 7 (30.5)
 4 (33.5)
 3 (21.5%)
 NA
At onset
AST, IU/L (range) 150 (17–2,309) 92 (17–1,688) 179 (20–2,309) 0.30
ALT, IU/L (range) 293 (24–4,273) 297 (24–2,189) 278 (47–4,273) 0.74
γGT, IU/L (range) 202 (18–1,665) 220 (50–1,665) 181 (18–492) 0.70
Bilirubin, μmol/L (range)
 13 (6.3–107)
 16 (6.3–107)
 13 (7.7–88)
 0.43
At month 6
AST, IU/L (range) 51 (14–1,127) 19.5 (14–325) 86 (38–1,127) 0.03
ALT, IU/L (range) 50 (10–1,523) 14 (10–446) 133 (39–1,523) 0.01
γGT, IU/L (range) 101 (14–1,375) 28 (14–1,375) 135 (34–671) 0.07
Bilirubin, μmol/L (range) 18 (6.1–2,61) 18 (7.4–261) 12 (6.1–37) 0.41

*Values are no. (%) patients except as indicated. NA, not applicable; NHL, non-Hodgkin lymphoma; SCT, stem cell transplant; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT,alanine aminotransferase; γGT, gamma-glutamyl transferase.
†Age at diagnosis of HEV infection.
‡Indolent B cell lymphoma: follicular lymphoma (n = 2).
§Aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Burkitt-like B cell lymphoma (n = 1), anaplastic T-cell lymphoma (n = 1), Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (n = 2).
¶Others: myeloproliferative neoplasm (n = 1); granulocytic sarcoma (n = 1); myeloid variant of hypereosinophilia with FIP1L1-PDGFRα rearrangement. p value refers to comparison between patients who received ribavirin and patients who did not. Data from 6 patients of this cohort were previously reported in a preliminary study (6).

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Page updated: July 15, 2015
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