Management of Post-Liver Transplant Recurrence of Hepatitis C

Abstract

Cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is the leading indication for liver transplantation in North America and Europe. HCV re-infection post-transplant is nearly universal and if left untreated negatively affects patient and graft survival. Until recently, treatment options for HCV were limited to interferon (IFN)-based therapies which had low sustained viral response (SVR) rates and were poorly tolerated in the post-transplant setting. In the last 3 years, the promise of the directly acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of HCV has been fulfilled with high sustained viral response (SVR) rates and a low side effect profile demonstrated in both registration trials and real-world studies. This innovation has allowed post-liver transplant patients with HCV recurrence access to interferon-free therapies with extraordinary efficacy, safety, tolerability, and fewer drug-drug interactions.