Samiullah Shaikh, Bikha Ram Devrajani, Musarat Kalhoro.
Efficacy of peg-interferon based treatment in patients with hepatitis C refractory to previous conventional interferon-based treatment.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;22(10):635-9.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of peg-interferon-based therapy in patients refractory to previous conventional interferon-based treatment and factors predicting sustained viral response (SVR). Study Design: Analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Medical Unit IV, Liaquat University Hospital, Jamshoro, from July 2009 to June 2011. Methodology: This study included consecutive patients of hepatitis C who were previously treated with conventional interferon-based treatment for 6 months but were either non-responders, relapsed or had virologic breakthrough and stage ³ 2 with fibrosis on liver biopsy. All eligible patients were provided peg-interferon at the dosage of 180 μg weekly with ribavirin thrice a day for 6 months. Sustained Viral Response (SVR) was defined as absence of HCV RNA at 24th week after treatment. All data was processed on SPSS version 16. Results: Out of 450 patients enrolled in the study, 192 were excluded from the study on the basis of minimal fibrosis (stage 0 and 1). Two hundred and fifty eight patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 247 completed the course of peg-interferon treatment. One hundred and sixty one (62.4%) were males and 97 (37.6%) were females. The mean age was 39.9 ± 6.1 years, haemoglobin was 11.49 ± 2.45 g/dl, platelet count was 127.2 ± 50.6 103/mm3, ALT was 99 ± 65 IU/L. SVR was achieved in 84 (32.6%). The strong association was found between SVR and the pattern of response (p = 0. 001), degree of fibrosis and early viral response (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Peg-interferon based treatment is an effective and safe treatment option for patients refractory to conventional interferon-based treatment.

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