Twenty-four children with chronic active hepatitis due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, who were positive for HB_eAg and had increased levels of transaminases, were included in a controlled study of treatment using recombinant interferon-α (rIFN-α), 10 MU/m2 body surface, intramuscularly, 3 times a week over a period of 3 months. During therapy, a significant decrease in HBV-DNAp was observed in the 12 patients treated. By the end of therapy, the HBV-DNA had disappeared in 3 children, the same occurring in 1 child (33 % overall) during the course of the 4th month. By this time, all the controls remained with HBV replication markers (p < 0.05). The 4 treated patients who responded became HB_eAg-negative, developing anti-HBe during the first 12 months after therapy. In the control group, the HBV-DNA disappeared in 3 children in the 7th month of follow-up. All of the children remained HB_sAg-positive. The therapy with rIFN-α was well tolerated, secondary effects consisting of a flu-like syndrome and a slight decrease in leukocytes and platelets. At the second biopsy, 15 months after the beginning of therapy, a significant decrease in Knodell’s index of histological activity was observed in the responders. In the light of these results and since treated children lost viral replication markers in a shorter period of time than the controls, who seroconverted spontaneously, we consider that rIFN-α may be useful in the treatment of chronic heptitis B in childhood.

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To evaluate the incidence of diagnosis of Paget's disease of bone in Spain, a retrospective study was performed from 1991-1997 in four Spanish centers to evaluate the number of diagnosed Paget's disease cases. Information about the age, gender, and year of admission and an estimation of the reference population with the number of discharges at the centers were registered for each calendar year. The relative diagnostic risk of Paget's disease was calculated, using 1991 as the reference by Poisson's regression models.

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