Durability of Sustained Virological Response and Long Term Follow Up to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin in Treated Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Abstract

Objective: To study the clinical, biochemical and virological long-term outcome in chronic hepatitis C patients with a Sustained Virological Response after Pegylated Interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy. Methods: Twenty eight patients with a Sustained Virological Response after treatment with Pegylated Interferon plus ribavirin were included in a 5-year follow-up study in a single Gastroenterology & Hepatology center, based on standard clinical practice. Clinical and ultrasonic evaluation, liver function tests, alpha-fetoprotein and hepatitis C virus RNA by PCR were performed annually for a period of 5 years. Results: The mean follow-up period of the 28 patients was 67 ± 4 months after they obtained a sustained virological response. Eleven patients (39.2%) presented with high fibrosis score (Metavir >3) before treatment. Seventeen patients (60.7%) had genotype 4, nine patients (32.1%) genotype 1, one patient genotype 2 and one patient genotype 3. One patient (3.5%) showed evidence of hepatic decompensation. One patient (3.5%) showed virological relapse after achieving sustained virological response. At the end of the 5-year follow-up there were no deaths, no elevation in liver function tests and no hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusion: The long-term outcome of patients with sustained virological response to Pegylated Interferon plus ribavirin was maintained in 96.5% with one patient having virological relapse, indicating that Long term recurrence rate to combination therapy was very low.