Shahid Sarwar, Arshad Kamal Butt, Altaf Alain, Anwaar A Khan, Farzana Shafqat, Kashif Malik, Aamir Khan Niazi.
Value of Quantitative HCV RNA in management of Chronic Hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and 3.
Proceeding Shaikh Zayed Postgrad Med Inst Jan ;19(2):55-61.

Determination of viral load by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is part of workup before initiating interferon and ribavirin combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C. This study was carried out to determine predictive value of baseline viral load in patients with viral genotype 2 and 3, for response to therapy. Material and methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis C and genotype 2 and 3 were included in study. Viral load was determined before starting treatment with standard interferon and ribavirin for six months in all patients. Patients were checked for cod of treatment (EOT) and sustained viral response (SVR) by qualitative PCR for HCV. Response to therapy was correlated with baseline viral load by student`s t test. Results: Total of 55 patients were included. Male to female ratio was 1.1/1 (29/26). Six patients were of genotype 2, one patient was harboring both genotype 2 and 3 while rest of 48 patients had genotype 3 of hepatitis C virus. Baseline viral load w as less than 2 million copies/ml in 25 patients while 30 patients had viral load in excess of 2 millions copies/ml. Treatment was completed in 50 patients. Sustained viral response (SVR) was seen in 31 patients and 19 patients were non-responders. No significant association was found between response to therapy and baseline viral load. Conclusion: Pre-treatment viral load is not predictive of response to combination therapy with interferon in patients with genotype 2 and 3.

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