US Pharm. 2014;39(4):62.
A study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that the risk of hepatitis C–associated serious liver disease persists in patients with HIV otherwise benefitting from antiretroviral therapy (ART).
It has been reported that ART slows hepatitis C–associated liver fibrosis, but it is unclear whether rates of severe liver complications in patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C receiving ART were similar to those with just hepatitis C.
The study, published in the March 18 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at data from 4,280 patients infected with both HIV and chronic hepatitis C virus who were receiving ART and from 6,079 hepatitis C–only patients receiving care between 1997 and 2010. This research revealed that the HIV-hepatitis C–coinfected patients had an 80% higher rate of decompensated cirrhosis than hepatitis C–only patients.
