Long Term Follow up of Chronic HCV Patients Receiving DAAS

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C is evolving rapidly. Three classes of direct-acting antiviral agents, including inhibitors of the HCV NS3/4A protease, NS5B polymerase, and NS5A have been approved for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C, both in combination with pegylated Interferon (Peg-IFN) / ribavirin (RBV) and, recently, in interferon-free combination.

The objective of chronic hepatitis C treatment is to achieve SVR which is defined as the absence of viral replication at 12 or 24 weeks after treatment completion. SVR reduces morbidity and mortality and is equivalent in most cases to cure the HCV infection. Studies have demonstrated that SVR is associated with histological improvement, assessed by liver biopsy, and with the prevention of complications, such as the development of liver cirrhosis and HCC.