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Introduction: When co-administered with interferon and ribavirin, the prescription drug telaprevir significantly improves treatment response in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Its use, however, also increases the likelihood of adverse effects that may lead to discontinuation of treatment. Cutaneous adverse effects are particularly common., Objective: To determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of drug eruptions induced by telaprevir in patients receiving HCV treatment and to analyze the clinical course of lesions and response to treatment., Material and Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of all patients who started a treatment regimen that included telaprevir between May 2012 and July 2013. We recorded the demographic characteristics of the patients who developed telaprevir-induced eruptions, and analyzed the clinical characteristics of the lesions and their clinical course following the application of guideline-based treatment recommendations., Results: Twenty (46%) of the 43 patients who received triple therapy with interferon, ribavirin, and telaprevir during the study period developed drug reactions attributable to telaprevir. The reaction was classified as mild or moderate (grades 1 or 2) in 90% of cases and consisted of an exanthem with erythematous-edematous scaling plaques and papules. The rash worsened, mainly by spreading, in about one-third of cases. The skin lesions led to discontinuation of treatment in 2 patients (4.6%). Sustained viral response was achieved in 34 patients (79%)., Conclusions: Telaprevir-induced eruptions are common and often progress, but they rarely require patients to discontinue treatment., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and AEDV. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most frequent causes of chronic liver disease in our environment. Most patients who present acute HCV infection develop chronic hepatitis, and only between 15 and 30% resolve spontaneously., Patients and Method: The clinical, biological and viral characteristics, as well as tolerance to treatment and level of response were retrospectively analyzed in nine patients with acute hepatitis C who underwent treatment with interferon-alpha plus ribavirin for 12 to 48 weeks., Results: The mean alanine-aminotransferase (ALT) and total bilirubin concentrations of patients at diagnosis was 1.469 U/l and 5.5 mg/dl, respectively. All the patients except one were infected with genotype 1b and presented a mean viral load of 634,924 U/ml. At the end of follow-up, in seven patients (77.7%) HCV-RNA levels were undetectable and ALT levels were normal. The therapy was well tolerated except in two patients: one presented a mild depressive syndrome that was controlled with drugs and the other presented thyroiditis, which led to treatment withdrawal at 12 weeks., Conclusions: Despite the small number of patients, interferon alpha plus ribavirin seems to achieve a high, sustained response. The treatment was well tolerated and there were few adverse effects.