Efficacy and safety of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/ribavirin in management of Egyptian chronic hepatitis C virus patients with chronic kidney disease: A real-life experience.

Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with chronic kidney disease was difficult in the past because of the use of interferon (IFN). It was associated with high risk IFN-related adverse reactions due to reduced renal clearance of IFN. This study aimed to evaluate the antiviral efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/ribavirin in chronic kidney disease patients infected with chronic HCV.This observational, open-label prospective study was carried out on 103 patients infected chronic HCV with different grades of renal impairment. Paritaprevir/ritonavir and ombitasvir (75/50/12.5 mg) twice daily plus ribavirin were given to the patients for 12 weeks. Dose adjustment of ribavirin was done according to degree of renal impairment.Sustained virological response (12 weeks after the end of treatment) occurred in 101 patients (98.1%). Anemia occurred in 48 patients. No serious adverse events were observed in any patient.Paritaprevir/ritonavir and ombitasvir plus ribavirin for 12 weeks was considered to be safe and effective in the treatment of chronic HCV infected patients with varying degrees of renal impairment.

Quadruple Therapy Offers High SVR Rates in Patients with HCV Genotype 4 with Previous Treatment Failure.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have made a revolution in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment with promising reduction of HCV infection and disease morbidities. However, unfortunately, treatment failure still occurs in about 5-15% of patients treated with DAA-based combination regimens. The primary aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of a quadruple regimen of (sofosbuvir, daclatasvir, and simeprevir with a weight-based ribavirin) in chronic HCV DAAs-experienced patients. METHODS: This observational, open-label prospective study was carried out on 103 genotype 4 hepatitis C virus-infected patients who failed to achieve SVR12 after sofosbuvir-daclatasvir with or without ribavirin. Patients were treated for three months with sofosbuvir (400 mg), daclatasvir (60 mg), and simeprevir (150 mg) with a weight-based ribavirin dosage (1000-1200 mg/d). Response to treatment was determined by quantitative PCR for HCV at 3 months after the end of treatment (SVR12), and adverse events during the treatment were recorded. RESULTS: SVR was achieved in 100 patients (97.1%) at week 12 after treatment. No dangerous or life-threatening adverse events were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Retreatment of HCV genotype 4 patients with quadruple therapy is a good therapeutic option and achieves high response rates with minimal side effects.

Impact of pre-transplant infection management on the outcome of living-donor liver transplantation in Egypt.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Liver transplantation (LT) has emerged as an established therapeutic option for patients with chronic liver disease. Patients with end-stage liver disease are at high risk of infection with multidrug-resistant organisms, which may affect the outcome of LT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pre-transplant infection on the outcome of living-donor LT. METHODS: Prospective follow-up was done for 50 patients with chronic liver disease who had had LT performed from September 2013 to December 2017. We divided patients into group 1 (patients who had had infection within 3 months before transplantation with adequate treatment [n=20]), and group 2 (patients without infection [n=30]). Both groups were followed for 4 months post-operatively. RESULTS: Patients with high Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores were more susceptible to infection pre- and post-operatively, and chest infection was the most common infection pre-transplant. There were no significant statistical differences regarding hospital and ICU stay and post-operative course between the groups, but the mortality rate was higher in group 1 (40%) than in group 2 (23.3%), and the causes of mortality in the group 1 were mainly due to medical causes (infections and sepsis, 75%) versus 28.6% in group 2. CONCLUSION: Liver-cell failure and concomitant infection 3 months before LT with adequate treatment had no significant statistical differences regarding hospital, ICU stay, or medical complications, but post-operative infection and mortality rate were more frequent in group 1 and the causes of mortality were mainly medical.

Serum Dickopff 1 as a Novel Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosis and Follow Up After Ablative Therapy.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the role of Dickopff 1 (DKK1) serum levels as a marker for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to compare it with alphafetoprotein (AFP) after non-surgical intervention (microwave ablation, radiofrequency ablation) in HCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study was conducted in Al-Mahalla hepatology teaching hospital from June 2015 to June 2017. One hundred and twenty patients were included. They were classified into four groups: Group A: 40 patients with chronic liver disease; Group B: 40 patients with HCC which were divided into 2 main sub groups, group Ba which included HCC patients who were not eligible for ablative therapy and group Bb which included HCC patients who were eligible for ablative therapy; Group C: 20 healthy control subjects matched for age and sex; Group D: 20 HCC patients with negative AFP, DKK1 was done for them. RESULTS: There was a highly significant difference (p < 0.001) between groups regarding serum level of Dickpoff 1 with mean of 1 ng/mL in group A (cirrhotic), 2.38 ng/mL in group B (HCC), and 1.83 ng/mL in group D (AFP negative HCC) in comparison to control group C with mean of 0.54 ng/mL. There was a highly statistically significant difference (p value less =0.01) in the studied groups regarding serum Dickpoff 1 before and after intervention with a mean of 2.38 ng/mL before intervention and mean of 1.37 ng/mL after 1 month of intervention. CONCLUSION: Serum Dkk-1 has higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in early diagnosis of HCC than AFP.