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Sustained Virological Response and Hepatitis C-Related Cirrhosis: a World of Opportunities

  • Management of the Cirrhotic Patient (NS Reau and A Cardenas, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Hepatitis C represents a serious health issue. Approximately 185 million people are infected with the virus and 350,000 people die every year as a consequence of this disease. New direct-acting antiviral agents achieve viral eradication in more that 90 % of the treated patients. More importantly, patients with advanced liver disease or those non-responders to a previous course of treatment with an interferon-based therapy will also have the chance of curing hepatitis C (HCV) infection with these new drugs. In compensated cirrhosis, effective antiviral therapies may improve liver outcomes avoiding the development of clinical decompensation or hepatocellular carcinoma. However, information about the effectiveness and safety of antiviral drugs in patients with more advanced disease (Child-Pugh B or C) is scarce and it is still unclear whether viral eradication translates into an improvement of liver function or cirrhosis regression.

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Conflict of Interest

Javier Hernández-Blanco and Alvaro Díaz-Gonzalez declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Maria-Carlota Londoño has received consultancy fees from Janssen and payment for development of educational presentations from Janssen, BMS, and MSD.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERehd, Calle Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria-Carlota Londoño, Javier Hernández-Blanco & Alvaro Díaz-Gonzalez

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  1. Maria-Carlota Londoño
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  2. Javier Hernández-Blanco
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  3. Alvaro Díaz-Gonzalez
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Correspondence to Maria-Carlota Londoño.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Management of the Cirrhotic Patient

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Londoño, MC., Hernández-Blanco, J. & Díaz-Gonzalez, A. Sustained Virological Response and Hepatitis C-Related Cirrhosis: a World of Opportunities. Curr Hepatology Rep 14, 32–39 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-015-0253-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-015-0253-y

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