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Background: An overall prevalence rate of HCV infection in Romanian adult population was recently estimated to be 3.23%. The proportion of treated patients with chronic hepatitis C in our country has never been assessed. Aims: 1) to analyze the quality and quantity of antiviral therapy delivery; 2) to determine the proportion of patients being annually and ever treated with antiviral therapy in Romania and 3) to identify barriers against treatment of HCV infected-population in Romania. Results: The number of annually treated patients remained relatively stable between 2002 and 2007 (1,813 patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in 2002 and 2,446 in 2007). There was a doubled increase in reimbursed treatment in 2008 and 2009 (4,503 and respectively 4,701 treated patients) due to a special campaign organized to increase awareness and prevention of HCV transmission. The median time to therapy approval varies from county to county; overall it is 10.23 months. A total number of 25,318 patients with chronic C hepatitis were treated between 2002-2009, corresponding to a cumulative proportion of 4.1% of the prevalent cases of HCV infection treated in Romania until 1st January 2010. The main limiting factor of access to antiviral therapy for hepatitis C in Romania remains the lack of funds. Conclusions: This is the first analysis of the nationwide practice for treatment of hepatitis C in Romania. Increased public health efforts are required to improve access to antiviral therapy for hepatitis C in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction of direct acting antivirals in the therapeutic armamentarium of hepatitis C (HCV), policy makers have set criteria for treatment eligibility. In Romania, the combination of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir and dasabuvir is reimbursed for F4 fibrosis on liver biopsy/Fibromax, or F3 with contraindication to interferon (IFN). Our aim was to assess treatment eligibility and discordance between serological, elastometric and imaging evaluation of fibrosis in a cohort of patients with HCV. We evaluated both newly diagnosed and previously known HCV patients with advanced fibrosis, from our database, during a period of 7 months, between November 1st, 2015 and May 31st, 2016. Clinical, biological, ultrasound, elastography and endoscopy data were collected. Altogether 146 patients were assessed for treatment eligibility. Among them, 61% were females, with a mean age of 60 ± 8 years. Regarding treatment status, 52.5 % were naive, 27.4% nonresponders, 17.81% relapsers and 2.74% intolerant to bitherapy. 54.8% had elevated alpha-fetoprotein and were checked by advanced imaging for exclusion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) - of them, 8 were diagnosed with HCC. On ultrasound, almost 1/2 patients had dilated splenoportal axis and at endoscopy 42% had esophageal varices. Transient elastography (Fibroscan) was done in 88/146 patients: 82.95% were F4, 1.14% F3-F4, 9.09% F3 and 6.82%

Abstract: Background: Direct antiviral agents (DAA) showed very good results in terms of efficacy and safety in clinical trials, but real‐life data are still needed in order to confirm this profile. Material and methods: In Romania, through a nationwide government‐funded programme in 2015‐2016, approx.5800 patients with virus C cirrhosis received fully reimbursed DAA therapy with OBV/PTV/r+DSV+RBV for 12 weeks. We analysed a national prospective cohort enrolling the first 2070 patients, all with genotype 1b. The only key inclusion criteria was advanced fibrosis (Metavir stage F4) confirmed by Fibromax testing (or liver biopsy/Fibroscan). Efficacy was assessed by the percentage of patients achieving SVR 12 weeks post‐treatment (SVR12). Results: Forty patients stopped the treatment because of hepatic decompensation (1.9%), 21 stopped because of other adverse events and one was lost to follow‐up. This cohort was 51% females, mean age 60 years (25÷82), 67% pretreated, 70% associated NASH, 67% with severe necro‐inflammation (severity score 3‐Fibromax), 37% with comorbidities, 10.4% with Child Pugh A6, 0.5% B7. The median MELD score was 8.09 (6 ÷ 22). SVR by intention‐to‐treat was reported in 1999/2070(96.6%), 55/2070 failed to respond. Liver decompensation was statistically associated in multivariate analysis with platelets< 105/mm3(P = .03), increased total bilirubin (P < .001), prolonged INR (P = .02), and albumin<3.5 g/dL (P = .03). Conclusions: OBV/PTV/r+DSV+RBV proved to be highly efficient in our population of cirrhotics with a 96.6% SVR. Serious adverse events related to therapy were reported in 61/2070(2.9%), most of them liver decompensation (1.9%), related to hepatic dysfunction, and lower platelet count. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Chronic HCV infection represents a public health problem in Romania, with a prevalence of 3.23-4.56%, and more than 5,000 patients on the waiting lists for antiviral therapy. Aim: To perform an evaluation of the severity of chronic HCV infection genotype 1b, and a quantification of patients with a low viral load, in order to quantify the number of patients who may be considered for shortened treatment duration. Material: Histological assessment and viral load were performed in 1,220 consecutive patients from the waiting list for antiviral therapy in 2009. The severity of chronic hepatitis was assessed by histological evaluation (the necrotic-inflammatory index - Metavir and the fibrosis score - Metavir). Viral load was measured by PCR and 400,000UI/ml and 600,000UI/ml were defined as thresholds for low versus high viral load We assessed the influence of age, sex, and viral load on necro-inflammatory activity and fibrosis. Results: The mean age of the patients included was 48 ±10.69 years and females predominated (58%). Many of them (60%) were in stage F3, with a high potential for disease progression in the next 10 years (necro-inflammatory activity was moderate to severe in over 90%). Almost half of the patients had low viral load, below 600,000 copies/ml. The viral load was significantly associated with the age (p< 0.001) and sex (p< 0.001) of the patients. Conclusion: Chronic HCV hepatitis in patients on the waiting lists for antiviral therapy in Romania has a high severity with important predictable consequences on the duration of life, complications and treatment costs. The strategy of shortening the duration of treatment would be beneficial for almost 50% of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]