Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Chronic Hepatitis C Treatment: Real-World Data

Objectives: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) disease is an important health problem that affects approximately one hundred and seventy million people worldwide and can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.In this study, the efficacy and side effects of new generation direct acting antivirals (DAA) agent on the hepatitis C infection profile were evaluated. Materials and Methods:This retrospective observational study included 210 eligible CHC patients treated with DAAs.They received sofosbuvir ± ledipasvir ± ribavirin, paritaprevir/ritonavir/ ombitasvir/dasabuvir ± ribavirin and glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/ PIB).A hepatitis C virus-RNA level of ≤15 IU/mL at 12 or 24 weeks after the end of treatment was considered a sustained virological response (SVR).The side-effect profile and SVR were recorded, and the data were analyzed.Results: SVR12 was evaluated in 154 patients, and the rate of SVR was found to be 98% (152/154).At the 24 th week after treatment, data of 153 patients were available, and SVR was achieved at a rate of 99% (152/153).During treatment, fatigue and itching were common adverse effects.One patient failed to complete treatment during the treatment period due to adverse effects.The patient receiving GLE/PIB developed and progressively worsened allergic rashes.The treatment could be administered only for 3 weeks, and the treatment was terminated on the basis of the lack of tolerability.Conclusion: In our study, we concluded that the new generation DAA are highly effective with high SVR rates.It was also concluded that they are safe because of their low and tolerable side-effect profile.