title: Efficacy and tolerability of peginterferon alpha plus ribavirin in the routine daily treatment of chronic hepatitis C patients in Korea: a multi-center, retrospective observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of peginterferon plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients under real life setting in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 758 CHC patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin between 2000 and 2008 from 14 university hospitals in the Gyeonggi-Incheon area in Korea.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 was detected in 61.2% of patients, while genotype 2 was detected in 35.5%. Baseline HCV RNA level was ≥6×10(5) IU/mL in 51.6% of patients. The sustained virological response (SVR) rate was 59.6% regardless of genotype; 53.6% in genotype 1 and 71.4% in genotype 2/3. On multivariate analysis, male gender (p=0.011), early virological response (p<0.001), genotype 2/3 (p<0.001), HCV RNA <6×10(5) IU/mL (p=0.005) and adherence to the drug >80% of the planned dose (p<0.001) were associated with SVR. The rate of premature discontinuation was 35.7%. The main reason for withdrawal was intolerance to the drug due to common adverse events or cytopenia (48.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that the efficacy of peginterferon and ribavirin therapy in Koreans is better in Koreans than in Caucasians for the treatment of CHC, corroborating previous studies that have shown the superior therapeutic efficacy of this regimen in Asians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Choong Kee
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Seok
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sook-Hyang
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Yun Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong Gyu
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Kyu Sung
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Rim
authors.forename: Hyung Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: Jae Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: Sung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: June Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jeong Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Chun Kyon
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joo Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shon
authors.forename: Jin Mo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ju