Page 9 - The Flying Publisher Guide to Hepatitis C Treatment

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Table of Contents

1. Antiviral Therapy: The Basics.................................................. 13
Antiviral therapy – Standard of Care (SoC)......................... 13
Predictors of response before treatment ............................ 17
Virus factors...................................................................... 17
Host factors........................................................................ 18
Co-morbidities................................................................... 19
Treatment related factors................................................ 20
Adverse effects associated with therapy ............................. 21
Response-guided therapy (RGT)........................................... 24
Nonresponders and relapsers............................................... 27
Outlook ................................................................................... 28
Links........................................................................................ 29
2. Patients’ monitoring during and after treatment.................. 30
Basic knowledge .................................................................... 30
Viral kinetics: methodology ................................................. 32
Viral load monitoring....................................................... 32
Real-time PCR tests........................................................... 32
HCV genotyping ................................................................ 34
Assessment of hepatic fibrosis ............................................. 35
Liver biopsy ....................................................................... 35
Non invasive methods ...................................................... 37
Correlation between biochemical, histological and
virological markers and HCV treatment ............................. 40
Outlook ................................................................................... 41
Links........................................................................................ 42
3. Antiviral therapy in non-responders, relapsers and special
populations...................................................................................... 43
How to manage genotype 1 non-responders and relapsers ?
................................................................................................. 43
Therapy selection: monitoring vs. retreatment............. 43