Preliminary results form a randomized, controlled trial of maintenance interferon therapy (Co-Pilot) presented at the 2004 annual meeting of the American Association of the study of Liver Disease (AASLD) did in fact demonstrate that patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis who received maintenance peginterferon maintenance therapy over a two year period had a significant reduction in the incidence of variceal hemorrhage compared to that observed in the control group. The HALT-C trial provides an ideal patient population in which to further assess the effects of maintenance interferon therapy on portal hypertension.