A computer-based model showed increased life expectancy at an acceptable cost; benefits were greatest for patients with non–genotype-1 HCV infections.
Approximately 30% of HIV-infected persons in the U.S. are coinfected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV-RNA levels are higher and progression to chronic liver disease is more rapid among such patients than among HCV-monoinfected patients. Four randomized controlled trials have compared pegylated interferon-alfa with interferon-alfa (both combined with ribavirin). The largest of these trials, known by the acronym APRICOT, showed a sustained virologic response rate of 40% in the pegylated interferon-alfa group (see Journal Watch Infectious Diseases Aug 23 2004).
Now, using data on 44 participants in the Hepatitis and AIDS Liver Outcomes Study and findings from APRICOT (868 participants), researchers have created a Markov model of HCV progre…