Effect of sustained virological response on long-term clinical outcome in 113 patients with compensated hepatitis C-related cirrhosis treated by interferon alpha and ribavirin

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients, as a whole and according to final virological response

Characteristics	All n = 113	SVR n = 37	Non SVR n = 76	P1
Male gender (%)	69 (61.1%)	31 (83.8%)	38 (50.0%)	0.0005
Age (mean, yr)	54.1 ± 11.2	50.6 ± 11.1	55.8 ± 10.9	0.02
Alcohol (g/d)				0.4
0	71 (62.8%)	21 (56.8%)	50 (65.8%)
< 20	20 (17.7%)	9 (24.3%)	11 (14.5%)
≥ 20	22 (19.5%)	7 (18.9%)	15 (19.7%)
HCV genotype2				0.0001
1	58 (61.1%)	11 (35.5%)	47 (73.4%)
2	10 (10.5%)	7 (22.6%)	3 (4.7%)
3	15 (15.8%)	8 (25.8%)	7 (10.9%)
4	8 (8.4%)	1 (3.2%)	7 (10.9%)
5	2 (2.1%)	2 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)
6	2 (2.1%)	2 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)
Body mass index (kg/m2)	25.9 ± 4.0	24.6 ± 3.8	26.5 ± 4.0	0.015
Platelets (103/mm3)	149.4 ± 56.2	152.9 ± 50.1	147.9 ± 59.2	0.4
Serum albumin (g/L)	43.0 ± 5.0	45.4 ± 6.1	41.8 ± 4.0	0.001
Bilirubin (μmol/L)	14.6 ± 9.6	14.3 ± 7.5	14.8 ± 10.5	0.6
Prothrombin activity (%)	83.7 ± 13.3	84.5 ± 12.6	83.4 ± 13.8	0.7
AFP (ng/mL)	14.4 ± 25.2	8.7 ± 12.9	17.3 ± 29.2	0.008
AST (× ULN)	2.9 ± 2.0	2.4 ± 1.4	3.1 ± 2.3	0.2
ALT (× ULN)	3.1 ± 1.9	3.1 ± 1.9	3.1 ± 2.0	0.7

ULN: Upper limit of normal range; SVR: Sustained virological response. ¹Between SVR and Non-SVR groups;

²Not determinate in 18 patients (15.9%).

Table 2 Duration of follow-up and characteristics of treatment according to final virological response

	All n = 113	SVR n = 37	Non SVR n = 76	P1
Follow-up from the first liver biopsy (mean ± SD, yr)	8.2 ± 3.1	8.2 ± 2.7	8.2 ± 3.3	0.7
Follow-up from the beginning of first treatment (mean ± SD, yr)	7.7 ± 3.0	7.7 ± 2.6	7.6 ± 3.1	0.6
Number of treatment courses				0.25
1	50 (44.2%)	19 (51.4%)	31 (40.8%)
2	42 (37.2%)	15 (40.5%)	27 (35.5%)
3	19 (16.8%)	3 (8.1%)	16 (21.1%)
4	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.6%)
Type of treatment				1.00
α-interferon monotherapy	35 (31.0%)	11 (29.7%)	24 (31.6%)
Bitherapy	78 (69.0%)	26 (70.3%)	52 (68.4%)
Type of bitherapy				< 0.0001
α-interferon + ribavirin	40 (51.3%)	22 (84.6%)	18 (34.6%)
Peg-interferon + ribavirin	38 (48.7%)	4 (15.4%)	34 (65.4%)
Total duration of treatment (mo)	15.3 ± 9.05	14.3 ± 6.4	15.8 ± 10.1	0.4

SVR: Sustained virological response. ¹P values were obtained between SVR and non SVR groups.

Table 3 Severe liver-related events and deaths occurring from the beginning of first treatment according to final virological response

	SVR n = 37	Non SVR n = 76	P
Number of patients with at least one liver-related events or death during follow-up (%)	31 (8.1%)	342 (44.7%)	0.002
Number of patients (%) with
HCC	1 (2.7%)	24 (31.6%)	0.01
Ascites	2 (5.4%)	8 (10.5%)	0.43
Digestive haemorrhage	1 (2.7%)	4 (5.3%)	0.62
Encephalopathy	0	2 (5.4%)	0.56
Number of deaths	0	20 (26.3%)	0.002
Liver-related	0	17
Liver failure	0	7
GI haemorrhage	0	1
HCC	0	9
Non liver-related	0	3
Suicide	0	1
Miscellaneous	0	2

¹1 patient had 2 complications;

²4 patients had 2 complications. SVR: Sustained virological response; GI: Gastrointestinal.