Abstract
We studied the course of chronic HCV infections in a cohort of 222 persons with hemophilia (PWH) and von Willebrand disease followed at our center since 1973. Twenty two (10%) developed end stage liver disease (ESLD). Forty years after HCV infection, cumulative incidence of ESLD was 12.3% and overall survival was 45.5%. Those who were infected with HCV only (n = 100) had a survival of 75.2%, while those infected with HIV (n = 122) had a survival of 24% (P < 0.001). Survivals were significantly longer for those infected with HCV at younger age (< 15 years) compared to those infected over age 30 years (P = 0.014). Cause specific deaths for ESLD and bleeding were 8.8% and 8.3% respectively. For HIV negative subjects, the annual hazard of death from ESLD and bleeding was near zero for the first 10 years, and then rose slowly over the next 20 years to 0.4/100py for ESLD and 0.2/100py for bleeding. Sixty subjects completed 79 treatment episodes. Sustained viral response rates increased from 7/21 (33%) between 1990 and 2001, to 17/29 (58%) between 2002 and 2011, and to 27/29 (93%), since 2012 with the advent of the directly acting antiviral agents. These results confirm the very slow ESLD progression rate in HIV negative PWH. However, the risk of death from both ESLD and bleeding increases steadily with longer duration of HCV infection. More aggressive surveillance to detect those with early fibrosis is needed now that curative treatment is possible in >95% of individuals. Am. J. Hematol. 91:E335-E340, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.