Chronic hepatitis C patients prior to broad access to interferon-free treatments in Germany.

Chronic hepatitis C patients prior to broad access to interferon-free treatments in Germany. Z Gastroenterol. 2016 Aug;54(8):740-747 Authors: Hüppe D, Buggisch P, Christensen S, Heiken H, Mauss S, Naumann U, Fischer C, Kleine H, Huelsenbeck J Abstract In 2014, the first interferon-free treatment options for chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) became available in Europe introducing a new era of highly effective and well tolerated oral treatment options for CHC. The data from the cross-sectional study CURRENT-C highlights the epidemiological characteristics of patients with CHC in Germany. During the period that the study was conducted, the approval of the combination drugs for the treatment of CHC was imminent.Between June and November 2014, 1471 CHC-patients not receiving anti-HCV treatment were included nationwide in 40 German centers specializing in viral hepatitis. The mean age was 52.4 years with 41.2 % of the patients being female. Presumed route of infection in male patients was most frequently drug use (46.2 %) and blood products in females (22.8 %). The route of infection was unknown in 28.2 % of male and 43.1 % of female patients. Compared to male patients, female patients were older (55.6 vs. 50.1 years) and longer diagnosed with HCV (18 vs. 15 years). First language of the patients was most frequently German (72.2 %), followed by Russian (14.2 %), and Polish (2.9 %). HCV genotype (GT) 1 was found in 73.8 % (1a 29....
Source: Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Z Gastroenterol Source Type: research