title: Durability of sustained virologic response in chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to investigate the rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C patients receiving antiviral treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The files of patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon±ribavirin between 1995 and 2009 were reviewed retrospectively. Six months after the end of treatment, patients with negative hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA (<50 IU/mL, as determined by the polymerase chain reaction method) were enrolled in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of 196 patients (89 males) was 46.13±11.10 years (range, 17 to 73 years). In biopsies, the mean stage was 1.50±0.94; histological activity index was 7.18±2.43. In total, 139 patients received pegylated interferon (IFN)+ribavirin, 21 patients received classical IFN+ribavirin, and 36 patients received IFN alone. The HCV genotypes of 138 patients were checked: 77.5% were genotype 1b, and 22.5% were other genotypes. After achievement of SVR, the median follow-up period was 33.5 months (range, 6 to 112 months), and in this period relapse was only detected in two patients (1.02%) at 18 and 48 months after treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In total, 98.9% of patients with SVR in chronic hepatitis C demonstrated truly durable responses over the long-term follow-up period of 3 years; relapsed patients had intermittent or low-grade viremia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Harran University Faculty of Medicine, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uyanikoglu
authors.forename: Sabahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaymakoglu
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Danalioglu
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akyuz
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ermis
authors.forename: Binnur
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pinarbasi
authors.forename: Kadir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Besisik
authors.forename: Yilmaz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cakaloglu
keywords: Chronic hepatitis C; Interferons
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