The Success Rate of Interferon-Based Treatments in Chronic Viral Hepatitis C Patients and Factors Affecting Treatment Success

Abstract

Introduction: To examine the treatment success and the factors affecting the treatment success in patients with chronic viral hepatitis C. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted by scanning the files of patients with chronic viral hepatitis C, who were followed in Infectious Diseases and Gastroenterology outpatient clinics. Demographic and clinical characteristics (presence of hepatomegaly or splenomegaly, comorbidity treatment protocols, and side effects) were examined. Results: 418 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 48.4 (min: 27-max:76) years. 40.4% (n=169) of the patients were male. Fifty patients had hepatomegaly and 45 had splenomegaly. While 79.9% of the patients had no comorbid disease, 13.4% had diabetes, 5.3% had thyroid dysfunction, and 1.4% had both. Hepatocellular carcinoma was observed in 4 patients, cirrhosis was observed in 29 patients, and side effects were observed in 33 patients. Four patients received ribavirin, 32 patients received classical interferon, 13 patients received pegylated interferon, 69 patients received classical interferon+ribavirin, 297 patients received pegylated-interferon+ribavirin, and three patients received classical interferon+ ribavirin+pegylated-interferon. Of the patients, 12 resulted in “exacerbation under treatment,” 14 with “partial response,” 89 with “relapse,” 124 with “no response,” and 179 with “sustained virologic response (SVR).” Overall, the most successful results were obtained in patients treated with pegylated interferon+ribavirin. In univariate comparisons, younger age, absence of splenomegaly, and absence of cirrhosis were significant in patients with SVR. In multivariate analysis, combined therapy was found to be independently significantly successful among patients with SVR. Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, the response rate of patients to interferon-based treatment was 42.8%, while young age, female gender, and absence of organomegaly were determined as factors that increased this rate, and according to multiple analyses, it was determined that combined treatment alone was effective on SVR independently.