Spontaneous Clearance of HCV Infection in Patients Who Relapse After DAA Therapy

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are highly effective in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Treatment failure occurs at low rates and typically manifests as viral relapse 12 weeks after therapy ends. Standard practice is retreatment with longer duration of therapy, addition of ribavirin, or switching to another regimen. However, data are lacking on spontaneous clearance of HCV after relapse, which may obviate the need for retreatment.

In a retrospective case-control study, researchers identified patients with chronic HCV infection who had documented relapse with detectable HCV RNA 12 weeks after a full course of DAA therapy followed by spontaneous clearance within 6 months. These cases were compared with two control groups: p…