Background and study aim. The introduction
of directacting antiviral agents (DAAs) has
increased sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in
patients with chronic hepatitis C infection (CHC). The
aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of DAAs
in treatment of Egyptian patients with CHC, and to
determine the parameters associated with non-response
to DAAs Patients and methods. This study included
200 treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis C patients who
were divided into two groups and treated according
to the Egyptian National Treatment Program for
Hepatitis C Virus. Group 1 consisted of 100 easy-totreat
patients who were administered sofosbuvir 400
mg daily/daclatasvir 60 mg daily for 3 months, while
group 2 included 100 difficult-to-treat patients treated
by Sofosbuvir 400 mg/ daclatasvir 60 mg /ribavirin
daily for 3 months Results. The overall patient sustained
virologic response (SVR) in the present study
was 93.5% (187/200). SVR in group 1 was 100%, while
group 2 showed SVR of 87% (87/100). Comparison
between patients with and without SVR revealed no
statistically significant differences regarding age and
sex distribution, serum albumin, bilirubin, transaminases
level, INR and platelets count. However,
patients who were non-responders had signi-ficantly
higher pre-treatment alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels
than responders Conclusions. Treatment of CHC
pati-ents with DAAs is associated with higher
sustained virologic response, particularly in easy-totreat
patients. AFP level may aid in prediction of
non-responders to DAAs