Chronic Hepatitis C virus infection in Swiss primary care practices: low case loads-high barriers to treatment?

BACKGROUND: The primary care physician (PCP) diagnoses chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in most patients. He serves as gatekeeper and plays a key role in counselling and treatment guidance. OBJECTIVES: To calculate the approximate HCV caseload per practice and characterize PCPs management of the disease; in particular, to determine antiviral treatment rates and reasons for PCPs for withholding treatment. The ultimate objective was to identify potentially modifiable barriers to treatment. METHODS: A confidential self-administered questionnaire centred on the above-mentioned questions was distributed to 2371 Swiss primary care physicians. All respondents of the main questionnaire received an additional small questionnaire focussed on the initial disease workup. Descriptive statistics were used to describe questionnaire responses and PCP demographics. RESULTS: The response rate was 53.1%. Of all participating PCPs (n = 1084), 86.2% reported having patients with chronic HCV, with an average number of 4 patients per practice; 18.6% (n = 142) of PCPs did not monitor their chronic HCV patients. Two-thirds (66.8%) of the sample chronic HCV patient population (n = 4626) never received antiviral therapy. The main reasons given by PCPs for withholding treatment were HCV-specialist advice, patient preference, normal liver enzymes and patient related factors like substance abuse or psychiatric co morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Most PCPs follow patients with chronic hepatitis C, but practice caseloads are low, which may account for insecurity in managing this complex disease.

Genotype 3 is associated with accelerated fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: While several risk factors for the histological progression of chronic hepatitis C have been identified, the contribution of HCV genotypes to liver fibrosis evolution remains controversial. The aim of this study was to assess independent predictors for fibrosis progression. METHODS: We identified 1189 patients from the Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort database with at least one biopsy prior to antiviral treatment and assessable date of infection. Stage-constant fibrosis progression rate was assessed using the ratio of fibrosis Metavir score to duration of infection. Stage-specific fibrosis progression rates were obtained using a Markov model. Risk factors were assessed by univariate and multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Independent risk factors for accelerated stage-constant fibrosis progression (>0.083 fibrosis units/year) included male sex (OR=1.60, [95% CI 1.21-2.12], P<0.001), age at infection (OR=1.08, [1.06-1.09], P<0.001), histological activity (OR=2.03, [1.54-2.68], P<0.001) and genotype 3 (OR=1.89, [1.37-2.61], P<0.001). Slower progression rates were observed in patients infected by blood transfusion (P=0.02) and invasive procedures or needle stick (P=0.03), compared to those infected by intravenous drug use. Maximum likelihood estimates (95% CI) of stage-specific progression rates (fibrosis units/year) for genotype 3 versus the other genotypes were: F0-->F1: 0.126 (0.106-0.145) versus 0.091 (0.083-0.100), F1-->F2: 0.099 (0.080-0.117) versus 0.065 (0.058-0.073), F2-->F3: 0.077 (0.058-0.096) versus 0.068 (0.057-0.080) and F3-->F4: 0.171 (0.106-0.236) versus 0.112 (0.083-0.142, overall P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a significant association of genotype 3 with accelerated fibrosis using both stage-constant and stage-specific estimates of fibrosis progression rates. This observation may have important consequences for the management of patients infected with this genotype.

Pioglitazone in chronic hepatitis C not responding to pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Insulin resistance reduces the response to interferon alfa-based therapy of chronic hepatitis C patients. It has been speculated that improvement of insulin sensitivity might increase the chances of responding to treatment of such individuals. METHODS: We started a multicenter clinical trial of retreatment of chronic hepatitis C patients, who had failed to respond to the pegylated interferon alfa/ribavirin combination, with a triple therapy consisting in these same antivirals plus an insulin-sensitizer (pioglitazone) (The INSPIRED-HCV study). RESULTS: None of the first five patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria and included in the trial achieved a satisfactory virological response after 12 weeks of retreatment, despite the fact that in at least three of them the insulin resistance score improved. As a result, the study was terminated. CONCLUSIONS: Different schedules are warranted to improve insulin sensitivity prior to attempting retreatment of chronic hepatitis C patients with insulin resistance.