Hepatitis C remains a relevant cause of hepatic morbidity and mortality, with a high burden on health systems. The introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) into the Brazilian public health system led to advances in treatment, achieving sustained virological response (SVR) rates above 90%. This study aims to describe the clinical-epidemiological profile and therapeutic outcomes of patients with chronic hepatitis C treated in a specialized outpatient clinic of a public hospital in southern Brazil between 2016 and 2020. Observational, retrospective, quantitative study using data obtained from physical and electronic medical records. Adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection treated with DAAs were included. Variables analyzed included sociodemographic data, comorbidities, risk factors, viral genotypes, viral load, fibrosis stage, therapeutic regimen, and virological response. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were applied (p<0.05). A total of 128 patients were included, 54.7% male and 87.5% white, with predominance of age between 30 and 50 years (65.6%). Coinfection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was detected in 35.9%. The most common genotypes were 1 (69.5%) and 3 (28.1%). Viral load <6 million IU/mL was observed in 90.6% of patients. The most commonly used regimens were sofosbuvir + daclatasvir, with or without ribavirin. The overall SVR rate was 92.2%. Genotype 2 was associated with better outcomes (p=0.046). No significant associations were found with sex, race, HIV, or Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). Most patients had mild fibrosis and Child-Pugh class A (78.1%). The mortality rate was 3.1%. The results confirm the high effectiveness of DAAs in clinical practice, with high cure rates regardless of demographic or clinical factors. This study contributes to local evaluation of management strategies, reinforcing the role of the SUS in addressing hepatitis C and its alignment with elimination targets by 2030.
Meme et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: