Assessment of thyroid dysfunction in chronic hepatitis c patients treated with interferon alpha and ribavirin therapy

The aim of study is to assess the thyroid dysfunction in chronic hepatitis c patients treated with interferon alpha and ribavirin therapy. 70 cases of chronic hepatitis c disease were selected for the study. they were divided into two groups group a included 35 patients of chronic hepatitis c with positive hcv,rna on pcr who have received 06 months combined therapy of interferon alpha and ribavirin. group b included 35 patients of chronic hepatitis c with positive hcv rna on pcr,not taking any therapy. the subjects were selected from different hospitals. biochemical parameters i.e. tsh was done by commercially available kit by elisa method. sign test is applied for the level of significance. results: females are more prone to develop thyroid dysfunctions i.e. 4/35 (11.5%) as compared to males. tsh level was increased in 04 (11.5%) i.e.,hypothyroidism and decreased in 2 (5.8%) i.e. hyperthyroidism in hepatitis c patients after interferon and ribavirin therapy.