Research Information System
ACTA GASTRO-ENTEROLOGICA BELGICA, vol.79, no.4, pp.501-502, 2016 (Journal Indexed in SCI)
Thalassaemia is one of the most common inherited hemoglobinopathies that is characterized with defective hemoglobin synthesis and ineffective erythropoiesis. Chronic transfusion therapy which increases the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the main treatment for severe forms of disease. Upon routine implementation of HCV screening in blood banks, chronic Hepatitis C incidance in thalassaemia patients has decreased. Nevertheless, HCV prevalence in transfusion dependent thalassemia patients, most of whom have acquired HCV prior to screening, is 23-47%. Cirrhosis occurs in about 10-20% of chronically infected patients. Iron overload associated with chronic transfusion also contributes to the development of cirrhosis in these patients. Therefore successful treatment of hepatitis C in thalassemia patients is imperative. The classical treatment regimen of hepatitis C with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin combination does not have an optimal efficacy and tolerability in the general hepatitis C population. Furthermore ribavirin can induce hemolysis that leads to worsening of the anemia, a need for increased transfusion frequency and iron overload in thalassemia patients (1). However, chronic hepatitis C treatment has improved significantly in recent years due to novel, direct-acting antiviral agents (2,3). In the general hepatitis C population, these agents have shown high efficacy and tolerability, while for hepatitis C patients with thalassaemia, there is only a single case report on direct-acting antivirals, where the sofosbuvirsimeprevir combination was used (4). Herein, we reported a young beta-thalassaemia major patient with chronic hepatitis c infection who was treated with daclatasvir and asunaprevir, another direct-acting antiviral combination, successfully.