Infections during peginterferon/ribavirin therapy are associated with the magnitude of decline in absolute lymphocyte count: results of the IDEAL study

Ankle fusion in patients with chronic hepatitis C

BACKGROUND

It appears that both the incidence and survival of patients infected with hepatitis C have recently demonstrated a significant increase. The goal of this investigation was to determine the associated perioperative risks associated with ankle arthrodesis in this growing population.

METHODS

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases identified patients with chronic hepatitis C infection who underwent ankle arthrodesis between January 2009 and December 2013. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes were used to define the primary composite outcome of death or postoperative complication. Logistic models with frequency weights were used to compare propensity matched groups.

RESULTS

7339 patients met inclusion criteria. Of these, 157 patients had a history of chronic Hepatitis C infection. After performing a propensity score match, the final analytic cohort was 157 in the Hepatitis C group and 386 in the non-Hepatitis C group. There was no statistically significant differences in complications between patients with chronic Hepatitis C undergoing ankle fusion and those without Hepatitis C at any post-operative time point (inpatient, 30 days, or 90 days).

DISCUSSION

Patients with chronic hepatitis C infection undergoing ankle arthrodesis are not at an elevated risk of inpatient, thirty, and ninety day postoperative complications compared to patients without chronic HCV infections. Patients with chronic hepatitis C did not have an increased risk of surgical site infection or mortality at any time point.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic Level III.

Incidence of hospitalization for infection among patients with hepatitis B or C virus infection without cirrhosis in Taiwan: A cohort study

BACKGROUND

Infection is a major complication in liver cirrhosis and causes major morbidity and mortality. However, the incidence and mortality related to these conditions in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are unclear, as is whether antiviral therapy could change their infection risk.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

In this community-based cohort study, a total of 115,336 adults (mean age 52.2 years; 35.6% men) without cirrhosis participating in the New Taipei City Health Screening in 2005-2008 were classified as having noncirrhotic HCV (NC-HCV) (n = 2,839), noncirrhotic hepatitis B virus (NC-HBV) (n = 8,316), or no HBV or HCV infection (NBNC) (n = 104,181). Participants were followed to their first hospitalization for infection or death after data linkage with the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and Death Registry. A Cox proportional hazard regression model, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, education level, diabetes, renal function, systemic steroids, and history of hospitalization, was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall and individual sites of infection and infection-related mortality. The reference group was NBNC participants with normal to mildly elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (<1.5 times upper normal limit [UNL]) levels. To further address the impact of antiviral treatment on infection risk, we conducted analyses of data from the nationwide NHIRD and compared the risks for hospitalization because of infections and infection-related deaths between patients with HCV who received antiviral therapy (n = 20,264) and those who remained untreated (n = 104,360). During a median 8.2-year follow-up, the incidence of hospitalization for infection was substantially higher in NC-HCV patients. Compared to the reference group, NC-HCV was associated with a significantly higher risk for hospitalization because of overall infections (adjusted HR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.12-1.33), but we observed no increased risk for patients in the NC-HBV (adjusted HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.88-1.01) or NBNC group with moderate to markedly elevated ALT levels (adjusted HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.93-1.14). For specific sites of infection, the NC-HCV group had increased risks for septicemia and lower respiratory tract, reproductive, and urinary tract infections. We noted no increased risk for infection-related death among patients with NC-HCV. Patients with HCV who received antiviral therapy had significantly reduced infection-related hospitalization and death risks (adjusted HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.73-0.84 for infection-related hospitalization and adjusted HR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.04-0.16 for infection-related deaths). Study limitations include the exclusion of patients with cirrhosis from the cohort, the possibility of unmeasured confounding, and the lack of information on direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, patients with NC-HCV were at increased risk for hospitalization for infection, while no increased risk was observed for NC-HBV-infected patients.

Clinical outcomes in HIV+/HCV+ coinfected kidney transplant recipients in the pre- and post-direct-acting antiviral therapy eras: 10-Year single center experience

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have demonstrated inferior patient and graft survival following kidney transplant (KT) in HIV+/HCV+ coinfected patients compared to HIV+/HCV- recipients. However, these studies were conducted prior to the availability of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents and data in the modern era are lacking.

METHODS

Single center retrospective study of HIV+/HCV+ coinfected KT recipients (2007-2017). Outcomes were assessed for the pre-DAA and post-DAA (ie, after December 2013) eras including 1-year patient survival, death-censored graft survival, and acute rejection; and serious infections (defined as infections requiring admission to the intensive care unit during initial transplant hospitalization or re-admission to the hospital after discharge) within the first 6 months post-transplant.

RESULTS

A total of 13 consecutive HIV+/HCV+ recipients were identified. Median time of post-transplant follow-up was 722 days. Seven patients were transplanted in the DAA era; five of them had anti-HCV Ab+ donors, with two donors being HCV NAT positive; all received DAA therapy, six of them post-transplant (median time from KT to DAA: 83 days; IQR, 54-300). All the patients in the pre-DAA era were on a protease inhibitor-containing ART regimen. One-year patient and death-censored graft survivals were 83% and 67%, respectively, for the patients transplanted in the pre-DAA era, and 100% for both outcomes in the subgroup of patients transplanted in the post-DAA era (P > 0.05). Compared to patients in the post-DAA era, those in the pre-DAA era had higher incidence of serious infections (0 vs 67%; P = 0.02). Acute rejection exclusively occurred in the pre-DAA group (n = 1; 17%).

CONCLUSIONS

Outcomes of HIV+/HCV+ KT recipients, including HIV-/HCV+ to HIV+/HCV+ transplants, in the DAA era were excellent in this small cohort. Larger studies are needed.

Diskitis, Osteomyelitis, Spinal Epidural Abscess, Meningitis, and Endocarditis Following Sacroiliac Joint Injection for the Treatment of Low-Back Pain in a Patient on Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus

OBJECTIVE

Sacroiliac joint injections are frequently performed procedures in the management of acute and chronic low-back pain, including patients with various immunocompromised states. Infectious complications following these procedures along with other spinal injections are rarely reported, but the true incidence is unknown. The purpose of this report is to highlight the devastating neurologic sequela that can occur, and to discuss potential future management strategies.

CASE REPORT

We present a patient who developed diskitis, osteomyelitis, spinal epidural abscess, meningitis, and endocarditis from Staphylococcus aureus, all of which developed shortly after a sacroiliac joint injection. The patient was on treatment for hepatitis C virus, and the resulting immunocompromised state likely contributed to the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Immunocompromised patients should be identified prior to treatment, and the small possibility of devastating complications should be thoughtfully weighed against the potential benefit of the procedure. Conservative management should be maximized initially, and if a procedure is done, strict asepsis must be maintained. Prophylaxis for S. aureus should be considered for immunocompromised patients undergoing interventional spine procedures.

Risk of infections during interferon-based treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and advanced hepatic fibrosis

BACKGROUND & AIM

Pegylated interferon-based treatment is still the backbone of current hepatitis C therapy and is associated with bone marrow suppression and an increased risk of infections. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the risk of infections during interferon-based treatment among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and advanced hepatic fibrosis and its relation to treatment-induced neutropenia.

METHODS

This cohort study included all consecutive patients with chronic HCV infection and biopsy-proven bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis (Ishak 4-6) who started treatment between 1990 and 2003 in five large hepatology units in Europe and Canada. Neutrophil counts between 500-749/μL and below 500/μL were considered as moderate and severe neutropenia, respectively.

RESULTS

This study included 723 interferon-based treatments, administered to 490 patients. In total, 113 infections were reported during 88 (12%) treatments, of which 24 (21%) were considered severe. Only one patient was found to have moderate neutropenia and three patients were found to have severe neutropenia at the visit before the infection. Three hundred and twelve (99.7%) visits with moderate neutropenia and 44 (93.6%) visits with severe neutropenia were not followed by an infection. Multivariable analysis showed that cirrhosis (odds ratio [OR] 2.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38-5.90, P=0.005) and severe neutropenia at the previous visit (OR 5.42, 95% CI 1.34-22.0, P=0.018) were associated with the occurrence of infection, while moderate neutropenia was not. Among a subgroup of patients treated with pegylated interferon, severe neutropenia was not significantly associated (OR 1.63, 95% CI 0.19-14.2, P=0.660).

CONCLUSIONS

In this large cohort of patients with bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis, infections during interferon-based therapy were generally mild. Severe interferon-induced neutropenia rarely occurred, but was associated with on-treatment infection. Moderate neutropenia was not associated with infection, suggesting that current dose reduction guidelines might be too strict.

Ribavirin Reduces Absolute Lymphocyte Counts in Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Patients Treated With Interferon-Free, Direct-Acting Antiviral Regimens

In clinical trials of interferon-free, direct-acting antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis C, subjects who received ribavirin had reduced lymphocyte levels (median decline of approximately 0.4-0.5 × 10(9) cells/L). A modest decline in CD4(+) T cells was observed in subjects with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 coinfection without documented opportunistic infections.