Progress in hepatitis C virus management in chronic kidney disease

Purpose of review The current review highlights advances in the use of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages G4-5, end-stage renal disease, and kidney transplantation. The use of DAA to facilitate kidney transplantation of HCV negative recipients with kidneys from HCV-infected donors and in the management of HCV-related cryoglobulinemia are also reviewed. Recent findings DAA treatment results in rates of viral clearance (sustained virological response or SVR) of 90–100% in all studied CKD populations, comparable to SVR rates in the general population. DAA treatment allows safe and effective transplantation of HCV viremic kidneys into uninfected recipients. Summary The high SVR results achieved with DAA allow successful treatment of previously under-treated CKD populations, and encouraged innovative interventions such as the use of HCV-infected donor kidneys to uninfected kidney transplant recipients.
Source: Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension - Category: Urology & Nephrology Tags: PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS: Edited by Sankar D. Navaneethan Source Type: research