Background: Efficacy and safety of Pegylated Interferon alfa (PegIFN)-Ribavirin (RBV) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in routine clinical practice seems to be comparable with results of randomized-controlled trials.
Aims: To evaluate the efficacy, tolerability and safety of CHC treatment with PegIFN + RBV in .real world. patients in Argentina and to analyze factors associated with SVR.
Methods: Medical records of patients treated according to current guidelines from 2001 to 2008 were reviewed.
Results: 235 patients were included and 80.8% completed treatment. Discontinuation occurred in 7.6% due to adverse events (AE), and 1.2% dropped-out treatment. Overall SVR was 60.8%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that being naive (p 0.031) and low basal viral load (p 0.006) were associated with SVR, whereas F3-F4 (p 0.001) and elevated ALT (p 0.023) were associated with non-response. 80% of planned doses completed was associated with 74% SVR (p <0.001). At least one AE was reported in 93.6% of the patients: neutropenia in 27.6%, thrombocytopenia in 15.3%, anemia in 38.7%, psychiatric symptoms in 63.4%, thyroid dysfunction in 10.2%.
Conclusion: Efficacy, tolerability and safety of treatment of CHC in daily practice in Argentina are similar to those reported in randomized controlled trials.