Treatment-Resistant Hepatitis C Viral Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an ongoing global public health threat affecting millions worldwide. Increasing recognition of its impact and recent advances towards HCV prevention and cure have provided incentive for the World Health Organization to call for global elimination by 2030. The goal of therapy is to achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR-12), defined as undetectable HCV-RNA within 12 weeks after treatment completion. In 2011, approval was given for the first direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). More recently, in 2013, more effective DAAs, with pan-genomic properties, have been introduced, and these regimens boast increasing rates of SVR. The ultimate goal is that the history of HCV ends with the pan-genotypic efficacy of multiple, easy-to-use and tolerate, combination regimens. These regimens have already demonstrated the ability to cure previously challenging patient groups. However, limitations exist in the current portfolio of agents, with suboptimal outcomes for patients with HCV genotype 3. In addition to this, access to DAAs remains an obstacle for many patients. We present this case of a 61-year-old male with HCV genotype 3 who has had several treatment failures with standard HCV therapy who was eventually approved for compassionate use of a 16-week course of glecaprevir (GLE)/pibrentasvir (PIB), sofosbuvir (SOF), and ribavirin (RBV) which ultimately led to SVR-12.