Background/Aim. Hepatitis C is an important sociomedical problem worldwide
due to frequent progression to chronic disease, occurrence of liver
cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Standard pegylated interferon alfa 2a
plus ribavirin therapy results in resolution of infection only in 50% of
patients. The aim of this study was to determine the association of various
factors with response to the therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C
virus (HCV) infection. Age and sex of patients, inoculation risk factors,
histopathological changes in the liver, viral load and HCV genotype were
analyzed. Methods. The study included a group of 121 patients with chronic
HCV infection. The treatment was carried out 24 weeks for virus genotype 2
and 3, and 48 weeks for genotype 1 and 4. The degree of histopathological
changes in the liver was determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining,
whereas polimerase chain reaction was used for HCV genotyping. Results. In
the group of non-responding patients genotype 1 was represented with 100%,
while in the other groups, although predominantly present, its percentage
was lower. Unresponsiveness to therapy and relapse of disease were associated
with higher viral load and advanced fibrosis. Intravenous use of psychoactive
substances, as a risk factor, was present in a high percentage in the group
of patients with sustained response, while blood transfusion and dialysis
were leading risk factors in the group of relapse responders and
non-responders. Conclusion. The results of our study showed that the
treatment outcome of chronic HCV infection was associated with baseline HCV
ribonucleic acid, HCV genotype, route of infection and the degree of
histopathological changes in the liver.
Efficacy of 8 Weeks of Sofosbuvir, Velpatasvir, and Voxilaprevir in Patients With Chronic HCV Infection: 2 Phase 3 Randomized Trials
