Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of the Patients (n = 170).

	Treated With IFN a α-2b + RBV a, Group I (n = 119)	Treated With Pegylated IFN -α-2b + RBV, Group II (n = 51)
Sex
Female	41	15
Male	78	36
Age, y, (mean)	1–18 (11.7)	8–18 (13.6)
HCV genotype, No. (%)
1	48/75 (64)	27/51 (53)
4	27/75 (36)	24/51 (47)
Baseline HCV RNA, IU/mL b, mean ± SD	3.58 ± 1.17 × 105	8.98 ± 6.19 × 105 b
ALT activity, U/L, mean ± SD	59.4 ± 24.0	46.1 ± 22.0
Liver biopsy, mean ± SD
Grading	1.11 ± 0.49	0.92 ± 0.46
Staging	0.68 ± 0.49	0.63 ± 0.53
Treatment-naïve, No. (%)	101 (85)	26 (51)
Retherapy, No. (%)	18 (15)	25 (49)

^a Abbreviations: IFn; Interferon, RBV; Ribavirin

^b In 3 cases, HCV RnA was assessed only qualitatively.