Response Guided Interferon Therapy for Genotype 3 of Chronic Hepatitis C: Compliance and Outcome

Objective: to determine compliance and improvement in sustained viral response (svr) by following response guided therapy (rgt) plan of interferon and ribavirin, for genotype 3 in chronic hepatitis c. methods: patients with chronic hepatitis c genotype 3, who were eligible for interferon-ribavirin therapy and consented for rgt, were included. those with no rapid viral response (rvr), having coarse echotexture of liver or undergoing re-treatment, were advised 48 week treatment whereas, rest had 24 week standard therapy. pcr for hcv rna checked 6 months after discontinuing treatment, was the primary end point of study. results: of 154 patients, included in the study with mean age of 39.9 (±10.84) and male to female ratio 1.4/1 (94/60), majority of patients, 136 (88.4%) were treatment naïve whereas, 18 (11.6%) were being retreated. on ultrasound, 63 (40.9%) patients had coarse liver and 33 (21.4%) had splenomegaly. rvr was achieved in 99 (64.3%) patients. overall 66(42.8%) patients merited extended duration of therapy as per rgt plan but only 22 (33%) were compliant. treatment related side effects were the dominant reason for declining rgt in 33 (75%) patients. svr was noted in 111 (72.1%) patients. those patients with extended therapy (rgt), had svr 90.9% (20/22), although, better but statistically not significant than those who stopped therapy at 6 months 77.2% (34/44) (p value 0.11). conclusion: response guided therapy plan did not improve svr to pegylatedinterferon and ribavirin therapy in patients with genotype 3 and it has low patient compliance due to treatment related side effects.