Large-Scale, Primary Care-Based Hepatitis C Treatment in an Urban, Medically Underserved Patient Population.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a critical public health concern in the United States. HCV is highly curable, but access to care is limited for many patients. Primary care models can expand access to HCV care. The Grady Liver Clinic (GLC) is a primary care-based HCV clinic founded in 2002. During 20 years, using a multidisciplinary team, the GLC expanded its operations in response to advances in HCV screening and treatment. We describe the clinic model, patient population, and treatment outcomes of the clinic from 2015 through 2019. During this period, 2689 patients were seen in the GLC, and 77% (n = 2083) initiated treatment. Eighty-five percent (1779 of 2083) of patients who started treatment completed treatment and were tested for cure, and 1723 (83% of the total treated cohort, 97% of those tested for cure) were cured. Building on a successful primary care-based treatment model, the GLC dynamically responded to the changes in HCV screening and treatment guidelines, continually increasing access to HCV care. The GLC serves as a model of primary care-based HCV care that aims to achieve HCV microelimination in a safety-net health system. Our findings support the notion that for the United States to achieve elimination of HCV by 2030, generalists can and should provide HCV care, particularly in medically underserved patient populations.

A COVID Constellation: A Case of Transverse Myelitis and Acquired von Willebrand Syndrome.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic revealed a myriad of postinfectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequelae, many of which remain poorly understood. We describe a rare presentation of a patient developing 2 simultaneous COVID-19 sequelae: transverse myelitis and acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS). There have been numerous published case reports of patients developing transverse myelitis after a diagnosis of COVID-19. However, none have described AVWS as an observed complication from SARS-CoV-2 infection. To our knowledge, this case report is the first to describe AVWS as a result of COVID-19 infection, suggesting that patients with a prior diagnosis of COVID-19 are susceptible to developing this rare bleeding disorder.