Se Rim Oh, Yechan Jeong, Beom Kyung Kim, Do Young Kim, Hye Won Lee, Jun Yong Park, Dong Yun Kim, Kwang Hyub Han, Sang Hoon Ahn, Seungtaek Kim, and Seung Up Kim
Background/Aims The treatment with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir (DCV+ASV) is associated with potent antiviral effects in patients with genotype 1b hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We investigated the real-world efficacy, changes in liver stiffness and noninvasive fibrosis markers, and the safety of DCV+ASV treatment in Korean patients. Methods In total, 363 patients with chronic hepatitis C were treated with DCV+ASV between August 2015 and January 2017. Finally, we analyzed the data of 270 patients who were monitored for at least 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results The mean age was 60.7 years, and females predominated (60.4%). Most patients (64.8%) were treatment-naive, and 56 patients (20.7%) had cirrhosis. Two hundred fifty-seven (95.2%) and 251 (93.0%) patients achieved end-of-treatment responses and sustained virological responses at 12 weeks posttreatment (SVR12), respectively. The SVR12 rates were higher in patients who were ＜65 years of age, males, without cirrhosis and had lower HCV RNA levels. All LS values and fibrosis-4 and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index values declined from baseline to the time of assessment of SVR12. Conclusions The DCV+ASV therapy resulted in a high SVR12 and improved liver fibrosis; the treatment was well tolerated in patients with genotype 1b HCV infections.