BOSTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ — Researchers from the University
of Bari, Italy, concluded that treating patients after
transplantation with antiviral therapy creates a sustained viral
response (SVR) and protects them from liver-related deaths. The
purpose of this study was to determine the long-term clinical
outcomes of patients posttransplant who underwent antiviral therapy
for recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection of the liver
graft.
The use in clinical practice of antiviral therapy for HCV
recurrence after liver transplantation is still controversial. Some
favor antiviral therapy while data coming from meta-analysis of
published studies do not recommend treatment in view of the
frequent adverse effects and the lack of clinical benefit.
Maria Rendina, MD, on behalf of the AISF RECOLT-C Group,
examined the records from 12 liver transplant centers in Italy over
a 20-year period, and showed data on SVR and long-term clinical
outcomes for a large posttransplantation patient population.
SVR was achieved in 35 percent of the 448 patients whose records
were included in this study. Researchers noted that patients who
achieved SVR received grafts from younger donors, received longer
treatment duration and cumulative dose of interferon, and had a
lower drop-out rate and lower incidence of diabetes; however there
were no differences in immunosuppressive strategy for these
patients.
Of the 134 patients who died since transplantation, 73 percent
of those deaths were HCV related – and only one of those
patients was able to achieve SVR. After univariate and multivariate
analysis to correct for other variables, researchers demonstrated
that patients with recurrent HCV who were unable to achieve SVR
were at a high risk for liver-related deaths.
According to Dr. Rendina: “The results of the study are
important as these data could have an impact on patient care: HCV
viral eradication significantly protects patients from live
‘/>”/>