This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of our hospital. Statistical analysis Data were collected using a specialized data collection form, then introduced into a Microsoft Exel worksheet and finally transferred to the statistical package for social sciences version they 15.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Analyses used included descriptive statistics as well as a Students t-test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Eighty-two (34%) patients were genotype 4, while 46 (19.2%), nine (3.8%), 15 (6.3%), and one (0.4%) had genotypes 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively. The genotype could not be identified in five (2.1%) patients, while the genotype data was missing in 82 (34.2%) patients (Figure (Figure11). Figure 1 Response rates among the different genotypes.

SVR: Sustained virological response. Two hundred and fifteen (89.6%) patients completed the treatment, while 25 (10.4%) patients could not complete the treatment because of significant side effects. In the entire cohort (n = 240), end of treatment Virological response (ETVR) was achieved in 160 (66.7%). 139 (58%) patients achieved SVR, while 101(42%) did not respond or had a relapse after achieving ETVR (Table (Table22). Table 2 Overall treatment outcomes One hundred and twenty five (52.1%) had side effects, while 115 (47.9%) did not report any treatment related side effects. None of the patients required a blood transfusion for anemia. One hundred and thirty eight (57.5%) patients were treated with PEG-IFN ��-2a while 102 (42.5%) patients received PEG-IFN ��-2b.

Among those who were treated with PEGylated IFN ��-2a, the SVR was 61.5% and for those who were treated with PEG-IFN ��-2b it was 53%, this did not reach statistical significance. Younger patients achieved statistically significantly higher SVR rates compared to older patients. This observation is in agreement with other studies and we believe that this is because younger patients, in addition to tolerating full treatment doses, have a less advanced fibrosis stage compared to older patients (75% vs 51%, P = 0.001). Other statistically significant predictors of achieving a SVR in the present study include compliance to a full treatment duration (64% vs 8%, P < 0.00001), a BMI lower than 28 (65% vs 49%, P = 0.01), and a pretreatment HCV RNA load below 800 000 IU/mL (64% vs 50%, P = 0.023).

SVR rates were similar in relation to patient��s gender, liver enzyme pattern, and GSK-3 the type of drug used (Table (Table33). Table 3 Characteristics of patients who achieved an SVR DISCUSSION Most of the data on HCV management originates from western populations in which genotypes 1, 2, and 3 predominate. There is less data from populations where the prevalence of HCV is much higher and in which HCV genotype 4 predominates.