 |
|
Clinical Aspects of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
To the Editor: Dr Flamm1 briefly addressed the question of whether medication should be discontinued early in patients with HCV who do not respond early to treatment. Early virologic response, defined as a minimum 2 log decrease in viral load during the first 12 weeks of treatment, is predictive of sustained virologic response.2 Flamm recommended stopping treatment if quantitative HCV-RNA titers do not decline by more than 2 logs by week 12 of therapy, in patients infected by either genotype 1, 2, or 3. Patients with genotype 1 who fail to achieve an early response at week 12 of treatment have only a small chance of achieving a sustained response even if therapy is continued for a full year.3 However, patients infected by genotype 2 or 3 have a high probability of a sustained response.3 Thus, viral-RNA quantification at 12 weeks does not seem warranted in either of these situations. . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Hakan Leblebicioglu, MD
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology
Ondokuz Mayis University Medical School
Samsun, Turkey
RELATED ARTICLES
Clinical Aspects of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection
Ajit Singh Kashyap, Kuldeep Parkash Anand, and Surekha Kashyap
JAMA. 2003;290(11):1452.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Clinical Aspects of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection
Ami Schattner and Hilla Knobler
JAMA. 2003;290(11):1453.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Clinical Aspects of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection—Reply
Steven L. Flamm
JAMA. 2003;290(11):1453-1454.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Steven L. Flamm
JAMA. 2003;289(18):2413-2417.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|
