[Effectiveness of antiviral treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C (a Polish multicenter study)]. / Efektywnosc leczenia przeciwwirusowego przewleklego zapalenia watroby typu C (wieloosrodkowe badania pòlskie).

Interferon alpha (INF) is routine treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Many controlled investigations were evaluated to establish the optimal schedule of treatment with sustained virological and biochemical response. Recently, multicentre meta-analyses suggest that combination therapy (INF + Ribavirin) was more effective than treatment with interferon alone. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of four schedules of antiviral treatment in 445 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Combination therapy (INF + Ribavirin) given for 6 mo. and monotherapy (INF) for 18 mo. were more effective than interferon alone given for 6 mo. Treatment with INF alone for 6 mo. was demonstrated to be insufficient.

[Central nervous system infections in patients with AIDS]. / Zakazenia osrodkowego ukladu nerwowego u chorych na AIDS.

Central Nervous System (CNS) is very common site of the opportunistic infections in patients with AIDS. Patients, who died because of AIDS have described pathology of CNS in 80% in autopsy series. Toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) is the most common infection in the course of AIDS, and it touches 25-50% of the HIV-infected people. The treatment of TE is very difficult, but relapses are very often and primary and secondary prophylaxis of TE is necessary. Fungal infections (particularly cryptococcal meningitis) are very unpopular in immunocompetent patients; in HIV-infected people Cryptococcus neoformans is the cause of the 30% of encephalitis. Viral and bacterial encephalitis, they are not very common in AIDS patients.