Canadian national retrospective chart review comparing the long term effect of cyclosporine vs. tacrolimus on clinical outcomes in patients with post-liver transplantation hepatitis C virus infection
Journal Title: Annals of Hepatology - Year 2013, Vol 12, Issue 2
Abstract
The transition from regular use of cyclosporine to the newer calcineurin-inhibitors, such as tacrolimus, has been suggested as a contributing factor to the “era effect” of worsening outcomes of post-transplant HCV recurrence. This retrospective medical chart review of 458 patients was undertaken to evaluate the role of immunosuppressant choice (cyclosporine vs. tacrolimus) in determining virologic response and clinical outcomes of post-liver transplant HCV infection recurrence. Our results showed that patients undergoing interferon-based treatment taking cyclosporine have significantly better odds (OR: 2.59, P = 0.043) of presenting a sustained viral response (66.7%) compared to tacrolimus (52.8%). This did not result in a significant effect on post-liver transplantation clinical events including HCV-related deaths, graft loss, fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma or graft rejection. Other variables, which showed a significant relationship with the achievement of sustained viral response included donor age (OR 0.96, P = 0.001) and HCV genotype 1 infection (OR 0.05, P < 0.001). The observed significant increasein the odds of acute/hyperacute (OR 6.49, P = 0.001) and chronic rejection (OR 10.45, P < 0.001) in the cyclosporine to tacrolimus switch group, accompanied by an increase in the odds of HCV-related death (OR 2.30, P < 0.047) compared to tacrolimus merits further study. A significant increase (P < 0.044) in new-onset diabetes mellitus with tacrolimus (28.3%) compared to cyclosporine (18.7%) was also observed. Pre-transplant diabetes mellitus was associated with a significantly increased likelihood of graft fibrosis (HR 1.95, P = 0.003).
Authors and Affiliations
Eric Yoshida, Leslie Lilly, Paul Marotta, Andrew Mason, Marc Bilodeau
Ultra-sensitive procalcitonin may help rule out bacterial infections in patients with cirrhosis
Background. Bacterial infections are frequent complications in patients with cirrhosis. Since they are associated with poor outcomes, antibiotics are frequently over-prescribed. Surrogate markers of bacterial infections,...
When to perform gastroscopy in the PSC patient
Dislodgement of variceal bands after esophageal balloon tamponade for variceal bleeding
A 43-year-old male with alcoholic cirrhosis underwent EGD for hematemesis which revealed bleeding, grade II, lower esophageal varices that were endoscopically ligated with 6 bands. All the bands remained attached to vari...
Lipid-bound sialic acid (LSA) in liver diseases of different etiologies
Objective. There are evidences that the changes in glycosylation and sialylation of proteins and lipids play an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of various liver diseases. The aim of this study was to e...
Percutaneous liver biopsy – 2 decades of experience in a public hospital in the South of Brazil
Introduction. Liver biopsy is a complementary method for diagnosis, staging and therapeutic guidance in liver diseases, where chronic viral hepatitis are the most acknowledged causes for the indication of histopathologic...