Prevalence of Hepatitis C Infection and Virus Clearance in Patients with Hemophilia

Introduction

Hemophilia A and B are hereditary genetic disorders caused by deficiency of clotting factor VIII and IX respectively. Infusions of clotting factors constitute the mainstay of treatment. Before availability of recombinant factor VIII and IX, patients with hemophilia received products derived from human plasma and were at risk of blood-borne infections exposure. Since then, ongoing advances have yielded not only safer recombinant clotting factors but also effective treatment of infections. Hepatitis C infection and its complications constitute a common cause of morbidity and mortality in older hemophilia patients. In the last few years, FDA approved various antiviral medications which allow achievement of sustained virologic response and even cure hepatitis C infection. Goal of our study is to show prevalence of hepatitis C infection and virus clearance at our hemophilia treatment center.

Methods

We performed retrospective chart review of patients followed at a single hemophilia treatment center in the United States. We included 59 patients with factor VIII or IX deficiency, age 30 and older, followed in clinic between 2005 and 2014. Patients with acquired hemophilia were excluded from study. Data was collected from physician notes and laboratory tests results which included hepatitis C antibodies and viral load.

Results

39 (66.1%) patients had history of hepatitis C infection. 21 (35.6%) patients had detectable hepatitis C viral load [95% CI 0.24-0.49] while 18 (30.5%) patients cleared the virus [95% CI 0.19-0.44].

Conclusions

Our study showed that 66.1% of hemophilia patients followed at our institution had current or past hepatitis C infection. More than half of them were virus carriers during their last viral load check. Many of them had refused interferon-based treatment due to the requirement of being on it for long duration and concerns about side effects. Others had received the treatment but failed it. This constituted as much as 35.6% of hemophilia patients at our hemophilia treatment center. Availability of the newer antiviral agents that are better tolerated and yield high cure rates provide an opportunity to further reduce the disease burden in these patients.