Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2023; 29(13): 2015-2033
Published online Apr 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i13.2015
Changes in characteristics of patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis from the beginning of the interferon-free era
Michał Brzdęk, Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, Piotr Rzymski, Beata Lorenc, Adam Kazek, Magdalena Tudrujek-Zdunek, Justyna Janocha-Litwin, Włodzimierz Mazur, Dorota Dybowska, Hanna Berak, Anna Parfieniuk-Kowerda, Jakub Klapaczyński, Marek Sitko, Barbara Sobala-Szczygieł, Anna Piekarska, Robert Flisiak
Michał Brzdęk, Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, Department of Infectious Diseases, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce 25-317, Poland
Piotr Rzymski, Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań 60-806, Poland
Piotr Rzymski, Integrated Science Association, Universal Scientific Education and Research Network, Poznań 60-806, Poland
Beata Lorenc, Pomeranian Center of Infectious Diseases, Medical University Gdańsk, Gdańsk 80-214, Poland
Adam Kazek, ID Clinic, Mysłowice 41-400, Poland
Magdalena Tudrujek-Zdunek, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin 20-059, Poland
Justyna Janocha-Litwin, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University Wrocław, Wrocław 50-367, Poland
Włodzimierz Mazur, Clinical Department of Infectious Diseases, Clinical University of Silesia in Katowice, Chorzów 41-500, Poland
Dorota Dybowska, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz 85-030, Poland
Hanna Berak, Daily Department, Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw, Warszawa 01-201, Poland
Anna Parfieniuk-Kowerda, Robert Flisiak, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok 15-089, Poland
Jakub Klapaczyński, Department of Internal Medicine and Hepatology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Warszawa 00-241, Poland
Marek Sitko, Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Jagiellonian University, Kraków 31-088, Poland
Barbara Sobala-Szczygieł, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Bytom 41-902, Poland
Anna Piekarska, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź 90-419, Poland
Author contributions: Brzdęk M, Zarębska-Michaluk D, and Flisiak R conceived the study design, and analyzed and interpreted the data; Brzdęk M and Flisiak R prepared the figures; Brzdęk M prepared the tables; Brzdęk M, Zarębska-Michaluk D, and Flisiak R drafted the manuscript; Rzymski P performed the statistical analysis; Lorenc B, Kazek A, Tudrujek-Zdunek M, Janocha-Litwin J, Mazur W, Dybowska D, Berak H, Parfieniuk-Kowerda A, Klapaczyński J, Sitko M, Sobala-Szczygieł B, and Piekarska A acquired the data; Brzdęk M, Zarębska-Michaluk D, Rzymski P, and Flisiak R prepared a revised version of the manuscript; Brzdęk M and Zarębska-Michaluk D prepared the manuscript for the submission; and all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: According to local law (Pharmaceutical Law of 6th September 2001, art. 37al), non-interventional studies do not require ethics committee approval.
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed consent for treatment and processing of personal data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Dataset available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author at dorota1010@tlen.pl.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-a checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-a checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, PhD, Assistant Professor, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, Jan Kochanowski University, Radiowa 7, Kielce 25-317, Poland. dorota1010@tlen.pl
Received: November 21, 2022
Peer-review started: November 21, 2022
First decision: January 11, 2023
Revised: January 16, 2023
Accepted: March 20, 2023
Article in press: March 20, 2023
Published online: April 7, 2023
Processing time: 136 Days and 15.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Patients with cirrhosis in the course of chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus, in whom the risk of death due to advanced liver disease is the highest, seem to be the greatest beneficiaries of the introduction of therapies with direct-acting antiviral drugs. Our analysis tracking changes in the profile of these patients documents the very high effectiveness and good safety profile from the beginning of the interferon-free era to the present.