Evaluation Of Left Ventricular Function After Sofosbuvir And Daclatasvir Regimen For Chronic Hepatitis C.

Objectives: To assess left ventricular functions by echocardiography after 12 weeks of sofosbuvir-daclatasvir combination therapy. Method: The prospective cohort study was conducted from December 2019 to December 2021 at Kafrelsheikh University Hospital, Egypt, and comprised adult patients of either gender who had been referred to the Cardiovascular Department for cardiac evaluation and were found to be eligible forsofosbuvir-daclatasvir combination therapy. The patients were classified into five groups according to cardiovascular risk factors. Group 1 had no risk factors; Group 2 had many risk factors; Group 3 had only hypertension; Group 4 had diabetes only; and Group 5 had smoking as the only risk. All patients were assessed at baseline and at the end of the 12-week of antiviral combination therapy sofosbuvir 400 mg once daily dose and daclatasvir 60 mg once daily dose. Parameters checked were left ventricular ejection fraction, global longitudinalstrain, wall motion abnormalities and diastolic function. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. RESULTS: Of the 200 patients, 104(52%) were females and 96(48%) were males. The age range was 34-81 years, and 18(9%) patients were aged >70 years. There were 78(39%) patientsin Group 1, 60(30%) in Group 2, 25(12.5%) in Group 3, Group 4 had 13(6.5%) and Group 5 had 24(12%) patients. There were no significant changes in mean ejection fraction, global longitudinal strain and wall motion abnormalities (p>0.05). Diastolic function had some significant parameters in each of the 5 groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sofosbuvir-daclatasvir combination therapy did not affect or impair left ventricular systolic or diastolic functions.

Cardiovascular Risk Assessment After Sofosbuvir And Daclatasvir Regimen For Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

Objectives: To assess cardiovascular risk after sofosbuvir and daclatasvir antiviral combination therapy in chronic hepatitis C virus patients. Method: The prospective cohortstudy was conducted at the Kafrelsheikh University Hospital, Egypt, from December 2019 to December 2021, and comprised adult patients of either gender with chronic hepatitis C virus and with minimum ejection fraction 40%. They were classified into groups according to their cardiovascular risk. Group 1 had individuals with no risk factors, Group 2 had patients with many risk factors, Group 3 had patients with only hypertension, Group 4 had those with diabetes alone, and Group 5 comprised smokers. All the patients were evaluated for the risk of major cardiovascular events at baseline and at the end of 12-week of antiviral combination therapy of sofosbuvir 400 mg once daily dose and daclatasvir 60 mg once daily dose. Data was analysed with SPSS version 23. RESULTS: Of the 200 patients, there were 96(48%) males and 104(52%) females. The age ranged 34-81 years. There were 78(39%) patients in Group 1; 20(25.6%) males and 58(74.4%) females with mean age 54.4±10.45 years. Group 2 had 60(30%) patients; 40(66.6%) males and 20(33.3%) females with mean age 59.57±9.1 years. Group 3 had 25(12.5%) patients; 3(12%) males and 22(88%) females with mean age 61.4±7.8 years. Group 4 had 13(6.5%) patients; 10(77%) males and 3(23%) females with mean age 55.4±10.4 years. Group 5 had 24(12%) patients who were all (100%) males with mean age 60.7±5.7 years. There were non-significant changes in the incidence of angina, arrhythmias or progression of dyspnoea (p>0.05). Echocardiography follow-up results showed non-significant changes in mean ejection fraction, global longitudinal strain and pulmonary artery pressure (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sofosbuvir and daclatasvir combination therapy wasfound to be safe in chronic hepatitis C virus patients regarding cardiac risks.

Barriers for resuming endoscopy service in the context of COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter survey from Egypt.

BACKGROUND: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected routine endoscopy service across the gastroenterology community. This led to the suspension of service provision for elective cases. AIM: To assess the potential barriers for resuming the endoscopy service in Egypt. METHODS: A national online survey, four domains, was disseminated over a period of 4 wk in August 2020. The primary outcome of the survey was to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the endoscopy service and barriers to the full resumption of a disabled center(s). RESULTS: A hundred and thirteen Egyptian endoscopy centers participated in the survey. The waiting list was increased by ≥ 50% in 44.9% of areas with clusters of COVID-19 cases (n = 49) and in 35.5% of areas with sporadic cases (n = 62). Thirty nine (34.8%) centers suffered from staff shortage, which was considered a barrier against service resumption by 86.4% of centers in per-protocol analysis. In multivariate analysis, the burden of cases in the unit locality, staff shortage/recovery and the availability of separate designated rooms for COVID-19 cases could markedly affect the resumption of endoscopy practice (P = 0.029, < 0.001 and 0.02, respectively) and Odd's ratio (0.15, 1.8 and 0.16, respectively). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to restrictions in endoscopic volumes. The staff shortage/recovery and the availability of COVID-19 designed rooms are the most important barriers against recovery. Increasing working hours and dividing endoscopy staff into teams may help to overcome the current situation.