Author(s)

Taghrid Mohamed Abdalla, Sameh M. Abdel Monem, Hosam M. Dawod^*

Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.

Background and aim: The direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) treatment has greatly improved sustained virologic response (SVR) in chronic non-cirrhotic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients and to less extent in those with cirrhosis. There is a stressing need for predicting the outcome of DAAs treatment especially in “difficult to treat” patients. This work aimed to study the value of the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score in the prediction of treatment outcome with DAAs in “difficult to treat” chronic HCV patients. Materials and methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted where files of 120 “difficult to treat” patients were randomly selected from the follow-up clinic. Patients’ data were collected before and after treatment including history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, and abdominal ultrasonography. Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores were calculated. Results: There was no significant difference in mean Child score between patients with and without SVR before treatment, while this difference became significant after treatment. The patients without complications showed a highly significant decrease in their mean Child score after treatment, while patients with complications did not show any significant differences. Conclusion: The baseline Child-Turcotte-Pugh score cannot predict the treatment response of DAAs in “difficult to treat” chronic HCV patients, but it is significantly associated with the occurrence of complications.

Hepatitis C, Child Score, Cirrhosis

Abdalla, T. , Monem, S. and Dawod, H. (2019) Value of Child-Turcotte-Pugh Score in Prediction of Treatment Response in “Difficult to Treat” Chronic HCV Cirrhotic Patients. Open Journal of Gastroenterology, 9, 211-222. doi: 10.4236/ojgas.2019.911024.