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Dr Muhammad Mansoor Younas, Dr Adnan khan, Dr Mubashar Shaukat
Aim: To understand the efficacy of lamivudine in the initial treatment of chronic hepatitis B and to understand the efficacy of lamivudine as envisaged in the National Hepatitis Treatment Program. Methodology: The study was conducted under the National Hepatitis Program and Department of Gastroenterology at Services hospital Lahore for one-year duration from April 2019 to April 2020. HBsAg and HBV DNA was obtained. 76 consecutive patients 66 (86.84%) men and 10 (13.14%) women with chronic HBV infection were enrolled in the study and were treated with oral lamivudine 100 mg once daily for 6 months to 1 year. All patients were HBsAg positive, HBeAg positive / negative for at least 6 months prior to screening and had active liver disease. The ratio of men to women is very high. Most of the patients belonged to a very poor socioeconomic group and lower middle class, so treatment was free and the research was funded. Results: The study included 76 patients, 66 (86.84%) men and 10 (13.14%) women. Early virologic response (EVR) (DNA not detected after 12 weeks of treatment) was achieved in 14 (21.21%) male patients and 5 (50%) female patients. In non-responders (HBV DNA detected after 3 months of treatment), 8 (12.12%) patients were male and 1 (10%) patient was female. 18 (27.27%) men and 3 (30%) women were non-runners. Treatment Response was 32 (48.48%) for males and 5 (50%) for females. 16 (24.24%) men and 2 (20%) women are under treatment. No adverse effect of lamivudine was observed or reported in any patient during this study. Conclusion: The ratio of men to women in this study is very high. The response of hepatitis B to lamivudine in both genders is almost the same and the response is directly proportional to the duration of treatment, which is quite comparable to what has been shown in previous national and international studies. Therefore, to achieve full SVR, the duration of lamivudine may be extended to 3-5 years or life-long in some highly refractory cases. Key words: lamivudine, hepatitis B, DNA