APASL consensus statements and recommendations for hepatitis C prevention, epidemiology, and laboratory testing

The Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) convened an international working party on “APASL consensus statements and recommendations for management of hepatitis C” in March 2015 to revise the “APASL consensus statements and management algorithms for hepatitis C virus infection” (Hepatol Int 6:409–435, 2012). The working party consisted of expert hepatologists from the Asian–Pacific region gathered at the Istanbul Congress Center, Istanbul, Turkey on 13 March 2015. New data were presented, discussed, and debated during the course of drafting a revision. Participants of the consensus meeting assessed the quality of the cited studies. The finalized recommendations for hepatitis C prevention, epidemiology, and laboratory testing are presented in this review

APASL clinical practice recommendation: how to treat HCV-infected patients with renal impairment?

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and those on hemodialysis due to nosocomial infections and past blood transfusions. While a majority of HCV-infected patients with end-stage renal disease are asymptomatic, some may ultimately experience decompensated liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Administration of a combination of elbasvir/grazoprevir for 12\ua0weeks leads to high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in patients with HCV genotypes (GTs) 1a, 1b or 4 and stage 4 or 5 CKD. Furthermore, a combination of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir for 8–16\ua0weeks also results in high SVR rates in patients with all HCV GTs and stage 4 or 5 CKD. However, these regimens are contraindicated in the presence of advanced decompensated cirrhosis. Although sofosbuvir and/or ribavirin are not generally recommended for HCV-infected patients with severe renal impairment, sofosbuvir-based regimens may be appropriate for those with mild renal impairment. To eliminate HCV worldwide, HCV-infected patients with renal impairment should be treated with interferon-free therapies

APASL consensus statements and recommendation on treatment of hepatitis C

The Asian-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) convened an international working party on the “APASL consensus statements and recommendation on management of hepatitis C” in March, 2015, in order to revise “APASL consensus statements and management algorithms for hepatitis C virus infection (Hepatol Int 6:409–435, 2012)”. The working party consisted of expert hepatologists from the Asian-Pacific region gathered at Istanbul Congress Center, Istanbul, Turkey on 13 March 2015. New data were presented, discussed and debated to draft a revision. Participants of the consensus meeting assessed the quality of cited studies. Finalized recommendations on treatment of hepatitis C are presented in this review