Quantitative Assessment of Hepatic Function in Chronic Hepatitis C

Investigators:

Principal Investigator: Gregory T. Everson

Co-Investigators: Timothy Morgan and Mitchell Shiffman

Hypotheses/Aims

The purpose of this ancillary study is to determine whether quantitative assessment of hepatic function will predict clinical outcome and effectively measure response to maintenance therapy in a population of patients with chronic hepatitis C.

1. To determine whether quantitation of hepatic function at baseline, prior to institution of therapy, predicts which patients clinically deteriorate during the period of follow-up
2. To determine whether hepatic function as measured by quantitative tests is stable at 2 and 4 years of follow-up in patients treated with maintenance therapy, compared to the anticipated deterioration in hepatic function expected in untreated controls
3. To determine the relative value of each of the quantitative tests for predicting clinical outcome or monitoring disease progression.