Treatment of HCV Lowers Cardiovascular Risk

Successful treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) reduces the risk of cardiovascular events, according to the results of a recent study.

HCV infection has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, but how HCV eradication with DAA affects this risk is not well understood, according to the study authors.

They conducted a prospective multicenter study involving 2204 patients with HCV infection. Of the participants, 1668 were followed as a case group after HCV elimination.

Overall, incident cardiovascular rates per 100 patient-years were 1.12, 1.14, and 0.44 in pre-treatment, untreated controls, and treated cases, respectively. Cardiovascular risk was 2.0 to 3.5 times lower in those with successfully treated HCV infection than in controls.

“HCV clearance by DAA reduces cardiovascular events (ischemic heart disease and ischemic cerebral stroke) with both clinical and socio-economic benefits,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:
Adinolfi LE, Petta S, Fracanzani AL, et al. Impact of hepatitis C virus clearance by direct-acting antiviral treatment on the incidence of major cardiovascular events: A prospective multicentre study. Atherosclerosis. 2020;(296):40-47. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.01.010. Accessed February 11, 2020.