Hepatitis C with Heamophilia A

Dear Sir,

My son 25 is suffering from heamophilia A since his birth and now since 2004 he got Hep-C (type-3),
We did a treatment to cure hep-c with interferon and ribavirin for a complete course of six months and the virus count was only 3,200 at the end of the treatment.

Now after 4 years it is positive and the virus (type-3) count is over 7,000,000 and we are again palning to start the treatment.

Here I want to know that is there any chance of liver transplant and is it possible that my son get out of heamophilia as well after a liver translant ?

[IAmTheWalrus]

I am sorry to hear about your son's difficulties.

If he treated for 6 months before and he still had ANY viral load at the end of treatment, it means that he did not respond to treatment. How long ago was this treatment? Was it with pegylated interferon (Pegasys)?

Generally speaking, the standard treatment is Pegasys 180 ug per week with daily weight-based dosage of Ribavirin. For genotype 3,  24 weeks of treatment is sufficient. Usually the viral load is checked at 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Ideally, clearance of the virus at 4 weeks is the goal and is a strong indicator for SVR (sustained viral response).

It is possible to transplant a donor liver into a heamophilic patient. This will not cure the Hep-C and would only be done to save the liver once the condition of the liver is beyond treatment. I hope he never gets sick enough to get on that list. Liver biopsy is the standard test to stage liver disease and predict how much liver damage has occurred.

I hope your son is seeing a Hepatologist for treatment of Hep-C. The treatment options are a little complicated and Hepatologists seem to be out in front on treatment compared to GPs GIs or other doctors.

There are several on the Hepatitis C forum (like me) that have had transplants and have also treated for Hep C.

Good luck to you and your son! I hope you get the answers and support you need here.

Brent