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ABSTRACT
Objectives: Direct acting antivirals (DAA) are extremely effective to treat chronic hepatitis C. The aim of this study was to evaluate, by using objective variables, the safety of DAA combinations under clinical practice conditions.
Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in mono-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with DAA between January and December 2015 in our centre. Discontinuations, treatment modifications, deaths and laboratory parameters were studied (liver function tests, hemoglobin, creatinine and lipid profile at baseline, weeks 4, 8 and post 12). Temporal variation of laboratory parameters was analyzed by t-test for paired data, and comparison between groups was made by t-test for independent samples and ANOVA.
Results: 227 patients were included (40.5% cirrhotic). Sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved in 97.3% of patients. In only one case was the antiviral medication suspended due to toxicity, and there were no voluntary treatment discontinuations. The use of ribavirin (RBV) was associated with mild transient hyperbilirubinemia (41.2%) and anemia (32.6%, with RBV dose reduction in 7.9% of cases). There was an elevation in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) during and after treatment: mean increase of 23 mg/dL (0.59 mmol/L) and 22 mg/dL (0.57 mmol/L), respectively in post 12 (p < .0001). An increment of 20% of patients with cholesterol levels over optimal figures was observed after DAA completion.
Conclusion: DAA have an optimum safety profile in real life conditions, with infrequent discontinuation and minor laboratory alterations.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Arkaitz Galbete Jimenez, who assisted with the statistical analysis.
Declaration of interest
This work is part of project EIPT-VHC, which is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health and by the Carlos III Institute, Madrid, Spain. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.