The impact of direct-acting antivirals on quality of life in patients with hepatitis C virus infection: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: It is well known that the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is lower than that of the general population and that therapy with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) for HCV is safe and effective. However, data on the QoL of patients are scanty. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of DAA drugs on patients' QoL. METHODS: The literature included in this meta-analysis was due in March 2021. The random effect model of heterogeneous data and the fixed effect model of homogeneous data were used to analyze the data. QoL had to be evaluated using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire with at least one measure at baseline (T0) and one measure at 12 weeks (T12) or 24 weeks (T24) after the end of therapy. The meta-analysis included eight studies, which involved 1,619 patients. RESULTS: At T12, the meta-analysis showed all items of the SF-36 questionnaire improved from the pretreatment to post-treatment period and reached statistical significance (p < 0.05) except for the bodily pain (mean difference: 1.16, 95%CI -0.43-2.74) and role limitations-emotional (mean difference: 4.10, 95%CI -1.32-9.52). However, after subgroup analysis (whether ribavirin was being used or not), the bodily pain domain (mean difference: 3.34, 95%CI 1.03-5.65) became statistically significant again. At T24, the results indicated that all items of the SF-36 questionnaire improved from the pretreatment to the post-treatment period and reached statistical significance (p < 0.05) except for the role limitations-emotional domain (mean difference: 4.50, 95%CI -2.66-11.66). CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence indicating that DAA therapy is accompanied by an improvement in QoL. Patients receiving DAA medication have a clinically relevant improvement in most domains of the SF-36 questionnaire at T12 or T24, except for a few aspects including role limitations-emotional.

Risk Factors for No-Reflow Phenomenon after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: To explore risk factors for no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: A total of 733 acute myocardial infarction patients with persistent ischemic chest pain within 12 or 12-24 hours after onset received emergency percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were divided into a normal reflow group and a no-reflow group, according to TIMI grading and myocardial blush grading after percutaneous coronary intervention. Related risk factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The incidence of no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention was 16.1%. Univariate analysis showed that, compared with the normal reflow group, the no-reflow group was older, reperfusion time was significantly longer, preoperative systolic pressure was lower, troponin peak was higher, and creatine kinase enzyme peak was higher (p < 0.05). The proportions of preoperative cardiac function Killip grade ≥ 2 and number of patients using preoperative intra-aortic balloon pump were significantly different (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age > 65 years (OR: 1.471; 95% CI: 1.462-1.492; p = 0.007), reperfusion time > 6 hours (OR: 1.274; 95% CI: 1.164-1.405; p = 0.001), low systolic pressure at admission (< 100 mmHg) (OR: 1.918; 95% CI: 1.017-3.897; p = 0.004), intra-aortic balloon pump use before percutaneous coronary intervention (OR: 1.949; 95% CI: 1.168-3.253; p = 0.011), low TIMI grade (≤ 1) before percutaneous coronary intervention (OR: 1.100; 95% CI: 1.086-1.257; p < 0.01), high thrombus load (OR: 1.274; 95% CI: 1.423-2.761; p = 0.030), and long target lesion (OR: 1.948; 95% CI: 1.908-1.990; p = 0.019) were independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: No-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome was affected by complicated pathological factors.