The cost-effectiveness of treatment in chronic HBV non-cirrhotic hepatitis – finite versus long-life therapy.

Background Although the ideal end point of chronic HBV hepatitis therapy is HBsAg loss, a realistic end point is the induction of sustained virological remission. The definitions of virological responses vary according to therapeutic regimen: viral load <2000 IU/mL after interferon (IFN) regimens and undetectable HBV-DNA during nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NNA) regimens. Objective: To compare the direct costs of medication between two therapeutic strategies: NNA versus NNA after IFN in non-cirrhotic patients without contraindications for IFN.