Korean J Clin Pharm.  2022 Sep;32(3):191-203. 10.24304/kjcp.2022.32.3.191.

Assessing the Effectiveness and Safety of Direct-acting Antiviral Treatment in Korean Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1b or 2 at a Tertiary Care Hospital

• Park MS
• Yang YM
• Park KH
• Yoon H
• Kim JS
• Choi EJ

• KMID: 2533899
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24304/kjcp.2022.32.3.191

Abstract

Background
Direct-acting antivirals are recommended for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus in Korea. However, evaluation of direct-acting antiviral regimens in a real-world setting is limited. The aims of this study were to investigate the effectiveness and safety of direct-acting antiviral treatment in Korean patients infected with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1b or 2 at a tertiary care hospital.
Methods
This was a retrospective study conducted with patient data obtained between August 2015 and August 2019 at Jeonbuk National University Hospital. The primary effectiveness endpoint was sustained virological response 12 weeks posttreatment (SVR12) via intention-to-treat (ITT) and modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analyses.
Results
Of the 270 patients, 47.0% were infected with genotype 1b and 53.0% with genotype 2. ITT analysis revealed that SVR12 was achieved in 78.9% of all patients, 77.2% in genotype 1b patients, and 80.4% in genotype 2 patients. Of the 21.1% of all patients who did not achieve SVR12, the majority of treatment failures were non-virologic failures (19.7%). mITT analysis revealed that SVR12 was achieved in 98.2% of all patients, 98.0% in genotype 1b patients, and 98.3% in genotype 2 patients. Almost half of all patients experienced one or more adverse events (43.3%), leading to 2.6% discontinuing scheduled treatment. The most common adverse event was anemia.
Conclusions
Direct-acting antiviral-based treatment regimens showed high effectiveness and safety. Non-virological factors, such as premature treatment discontinuation due to adverse events or loss of follow-up, were the major disruptors in achieving SVR12.

Keyword

Direct-acting antiviral treatment; effectiveness; hepatitis C virus; safety; sustained virological response (SVR)