Prediction of Cirrhosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C by Genotype 3

Background: Genotype 3 increases fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC).Aim: To evaluate the effect of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype on prevalence and severity of liver disease in CHC.Materials and methods: Nine hundred and forty-nine individuals with positive anti-HCV from June 2016 to May 2017 were enrolled in the study.We compared biochemical and hematological parameters, HCV RNA load, transient elastography, and ultrasound, in genotype 3 and nongenotype 3 patients.Cirrhosis was diagnosed in patients with liver stiffness measurement (LSM) ≥13 kPa.Results: Out of 835 CHC patients, overall, genotype 3 had higher LSM (11.3 vs 7.62, p = 0.01), higher aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (88.4 vs 68.6, p = 0.02), and low platelets (228.4 vs 261, p = 0.03) with higher prevalence of cirrhosis (115/415 vs 25/245, p = 0.01) than nongenotype 3.However, decompensation rates were not significantly different between two groups (32/115 vs 7/25, p = 0.98).The subgroup analysis revealed that cirrhotic genotype 3 had advanced age (50 vs 35, p < 0.01), male predominance, and higher AST (74.4 vs 57, p = 0.01) as compared to noncirrhotic genotype 3 patients.On multivariate analysis, age and AST values were higher in cirrhotic than noncirrhotic genotype 3 patients.Conclusion: Genotype 3 patients have higher prevalence of cirrhosis and fibrosis compared to nongenotype 3 patients; however, decompensation was not different between two groups.