A Laparoscopic Splenectomy Allows the Induction of Antiviral Therapy for Patients with Cirrhosis Associated with Hepatitis C Virus

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-179
Author(s):  
Yoshinobu Shigekawa ◽  
Kazuhisa Uchiyama ◽  
Katsunari Takifuji ◽  
Masaki Ueno ◽  
Takashi Hama ◽  
...  

It is difficult to treat patients with cirrhosis-associated hepatitis C with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin because of thrombocytopenia-related hypersplenism. Both safety and clinical efficacy were retrospectively analyzed for patients who underwent a laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) from January 2003 to December 2007. A total of 35 patients with cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C virus had LS for thrombocytopenia before PEG-IFN and ribavirin therapy, and all patients had thrombocytopenia, which was a contraindication for antiviral therapy. The hepatopathy was Child A in 24 patients, Child B in 10 patients, and Child C in one patient. All 35 patients increased platelet count from 48,000 ± 15,000 to 155,000 ± 55,000/μl ( P < 0.0001) after LS. The median hospital stay and blood loss were 13.0 days (range, 8 to 57 days) and 342.0 mL (range, 5 to 2350 mL). There was no postoperative death. Twenty-nine (83%) patients had PEG-IFN and ribavirin therapy after LS; 18 had complete therapy and 11 had partial therapy. Of these, nine had a sustained virologic response. A laparoscopic splenectomy for patients with cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C virus can be performed safely and allows induction of antiviral treatment.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Takeshi Endo ◽  
Koichi Ito ◽  
Tokio Sugiura ◽  
Kenji Goto

The present patient was a 4-year-old boy. His hepatitis C virus genotype was 2a, and his viral load was high (1400,000 U/mL). The pretreatment liver biopsy revealed no fibrosis or malignancy and mild chronic hepatitis; his Knodell's histological activity (HAI) score was 4. Single nucleotide polymorphism of IL28B (rs8099917) was major type. The patient began antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon alpha 2a (90 μg/week). At week 9, serum HCV RNA became undetectable, with a sensitivity of 50 copies/mL. Antiviral treatment was discontinued at week 11 because the ALT level increased to 610 U/L. After discontinuation of therapy, the patient’s serum HCV RNA status became positive again. The serum viral load increased to 100,000 U/mL. During this period, he had been observed without medication. Sixteen months after stopping treatment, serum HCV became undetectable. Over a 4-year period, HCV RNA became negative and his anti-HCV antibody titer gradually decreased. In conclusion, though antiviral therapy resulted in failure or incomplete therapy, a reduced viral load resulted in viral clearance in the present patient. Interleukin 28B genotype might have association with the clearance of hepatitis C virus after discontinuation of antiviral therapy.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory F. Oxenkrug ◽  
Pura J. Requintina ◽  
Dennis L. Mikolich ◽  
Robin Ruthazer ◽  
Kathleen Viveiros ◽  
...  

Predicting the efficacy of antiviral treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is of importance for both patient well-being and health care expense. The expression of interferon-stimulated genes (IFN-SGs) in the liver was suggested as a marker of response to anti-viral therapy. IFN-SGs encode the guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GTPCH), a rate-limiting enzyme of pteridines biosynthesis. Neopterin, a stable byproduct of GTPCH-catalyzed reaction, is used as a marker of interferon-induced GTPCH activation. We hypothesized that assessment of neopterin concentrations might predict the response to antiviral therapy. Neopterin concentrations were evaluated in 260 HCV patients treated by pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin. Mean and median pretreatment neopterin concentrations were lower in patients with sustained virological response than in nonresponders. The rate of response was twofold higher among patients with pretreatment neopterin levels <16 nmol/L than in patients with neopterin levels ≥16 nmol/L, even after controlling for HCV genotype status. Our study suggests that the pretreatment level of neopterin might be used in routine clinical practice as rapid and cost-effective marker to predict the response to antiviral therapy in HCV patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Zimmermann ◽  
Dietrich Hueppe ◽  
Stefan Mauss ◽  
Peter Buggisch ◽  
Heike Pfeiffer-Vornkahl ◽  
...  

Background & Aims: Smoking has multiple effects on factors influencing hepatitis C and antiviral therapy, including lipid metabolism, fibrosis, platelet count and adherence aspects. The aim of this analysis was to determine the impact of smoking on hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy. Methods: Data of two cohorts of an observational multicenter study including therapy-naïve patients infected with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) treated with dual antiviral therapy (n=7,796) with pegylated interferon alpha 2a in combination with ribavirin, or triple antiviral therapy (n=1,122) containing telaprevir or boceprevir, were analysed. Results: In the univariate matched pair analysis of dual antiviral therapy patients (n=584), smoking was significantly associated with lower sustained viral response rates (p=0.026, OR 0.69 CI: 0.50 – 0.96). The effect of smoking on sustained viral response remained significant (p=0.028, OR 0.67 CI: 0.47 – 0.96) in the multivariate analysis when adjusting for all other baseline parameters with a significant association in the univariate analysis, i.e. diabetes, fibrosis, body mass index, transaminases and baseline viral load. Under protease inhibitors the influence of smoking on virological response did not arise. Conclusions: Smoking has a negative impact on antiviral therapy in naïve patients infected with HCV genotype 1 independently of age, gender, history of drug use or alcoholic liver disease. The effects of smoking might be overcome by the new antiviral agents.Abbreviations: APRI: AST to platelet ratio index; DAA: direct antiviral agent; DT: dual antiviral therapy; EoTR: end of treatment response; RVR: rapid virological response; EVR: early virological response; HCV: hepatitis C virus; IFN: interferon alpha; MPA: Matched Pair Analysis; NS: non-smokers; PEG-IFN: pegylated interferon alpha 2a; PI: protease inhibitor; RBV: ribavirin; SAE: serious adverse event; SOC: standard of care; S: smokers; SVR: sustained viral response.    


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csilla Putz-Bankuti ◽  
Harald H. Kessler ◽  
Thomas Valentin ◽  
Eva Leitner ◽  
Emina Talakic ◽  
...  

Nocardiosis is an infrequent but serious pulmonary infection caused by Gram-positive aerobic actinomycetes. In this paper, we report on a 48-year-old patient with pleuropulmonary nocardiosis and cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C virus infection treated with triple antiviral treatment complicated by prolonged neutropenia.


QJM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Mohamed Hussein Abdelwahab ◽  
Shereen Abou Bakr Saleh ◽  
Ghada Abdelrahman Ahmed ◽  
Asmaa Mady Gomaa Mady

Abstract Background Hepatitis C virus virus is global health burden and major health hazard in Egypt, since the virus is the etiological factor of chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) accounts for approximately 15%-20% cases of acute hepatitis. After acute infection, around 50% to 80% of HCV patients will develop chronic infection. Approximately, HCV infects 170 million individuals worldwide). Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients are at high risk to develop lifethreatening complications, including cirrhosis in 20% of cases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Objectives The aim of this study was to validate Changes in serum level of autotaxin in patients with chronic hepatitis C before and after antiviral treatment. Patients and methods This study was designed as a prospective observational cohort study to evaluate Changes in serum levels of autotaxin with direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C before (baseline) and after (sustained virologic response week 12) treatment. This prospective study was conducted on 48 chronic HCV infected patients eligible for antiviral treatment with direct acting antivirals, agreeable to regular follow up, recruited from Hepatology and virology outpatient clinic at DMNI (Damanhour Medical National Institute) during the period from September 2018 till Mars 2019. Results This study showed that Autotaxin level significantly decreased from baseline to 12 weeks post-treatment. ATX therefore represents a novel non-invasive biomarker for liver fibrosis and a prognostic indicator of disease activity. Conclusion Serum Autotaxin was found to be higher in chronic hepatitis c and ATX levels became significantly decreased from baseline to 12 weeks post-treatment with direct acting antiviral drugs in patients achieving a SVR.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Abdus Salam ◽  
Nobuyoshi Akimitsu

Currently, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is considered a serious health-care problem all over the world. A good number of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) against HCV infection are in clinical progress including NS3-4A protease inhibitors, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitors, and NS5A inhibitors as well as host targeted inhibitors. Two NS3-4A protease inhibitors (telaprevir and boceprevir) have been recently approved for the treatment of hepatitis C in combination with standard of care (pegylated interferon plus ribavirin). The new therapy has significantly improved sustained virologic response (SVR); however, the adverse effects associated with this therapy are still the main concern. In addition to the emergence of viral resistance, other targets must be continually developed. One such underdeveloped target is the helicase portion of the HCV NS3 protein. This review article summarizes our current understanding of HCV treatment, particularly with those of NS3 inhibitors.


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