Safety and efficacy of direct-acting antiviral drugs in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in patients with thalassemia: a prospective study

Background

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality among thalassemic patients. Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are highly effective and well-tolerated by chronic HCV patients.

Results

The mean age of our patients was 29 years. Sustained virologic response (SVR) at 12 and 24 weeks was achieved in all patients (100%). The most common side effects were fatigue (18%), anemia (13.63%), and headache (4.5%). There was no statistically significant difference in the hemoglobin level before and after treatment (p = 0.48). There was a significant improvement in serum bilirubin and mean ALT levels after treatment compared to baseline data (p < 0.0005 each).

Conclusions

DAAs, namely, sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir or sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir, are effective and well-tolerated regimens in thalassemic patients with chronic HCV.

Acute changes in cardiac function by direct acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C-infected patients with thalassemia

BACKGROUND

Patients with thalassemia may also have cardiac abnormalities due to congenital problems, anemia, and increased burden of iron in their myocardium. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy on the cardiac function of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with thalassemia.

METHOD

HCV-infected thalassemia patients were enrolled to this prospective evaluation. Daily tablets of 90 mg Ledipasvir (or 60 mg Daclatasvir) plus 400 mg Sofosbuvir (±ribavirin) were prescribed for the patients according to the Iran Hepatitis Network's guidelines. An echocardiography fellow collected the echocardiography findings before and after the treatment of all the patients. The patients were followed up for any cardiac events within 12 weeks after finishing the treatment.

RESULTS

Thirty-two patients with the mean age of 24.2 ± 6.4 years were evaluated. All patients showed a sustained virological response at the 12th week after finishing the treatment. The patients' left ventricular end systolic diameter (3.0 vs 3.24; P = 0.003) and volume (33.8 vs 43.6; P = 0.001), global longitudinal strain of the left ventricle (-22.0 vs -20.6, P = 0.046), and average (-21.4 vs -20.3; P = 0.048), and the right ventricle size (3.12 vs 3.31; P = 0.012) were significantly increased after finishing the treatment. Changes in the abovementioned parameters were not correlated with the patients' myocardium iron load. There were no significant differences in other echocardiographic parameters ( P > 0.05) before and after the treatment.

CONCLUSION

Sofosbuvir-based regimens for HCV treatment were safe for our HCV-infected patients with thalassemia. Our patients' ejection fraction remained unchanged. Hence, more specialized echocardiographic evaluations were recommended for those with a history of cardiac abnormalities, cardiac iron overload, and in case of any cardiac adverse event during DAA therapy in patients with thalassemia.