Cardiovascular Diseases & Diagnosis

Department of Cardiology, Solothurner Spitaeler AG, Kantonsspital Olten, Baslerstrasse 150, 4600 Olten, Switzerland

Publications

• Research Article   
  Evaluation of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Patients with Direct-Acting Antiviral Medications for Hepatitis C Virus Infection – A Prospective Observational Cohort Study
  Author(s): Schild DP, Roesler G, Hellige GJ, Piso RJ and Arenja N*
  
  Background: Chronic hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infected patients are at higher risk for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) due to treatment with interferon (IFN) and ribavirin. The establishment of novel direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) has revolutionized the HCV therapy. However, hardly any data exist evaluating the evidence of DAA-induced PAH. Therefore, the goal of this study was the evaluation of systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) in patients undergoing DAA-therapy for chronic HCV infection. Methods: We prospectively enrolled forty-nine patients at our hospital undergoing 8-12 weeks of DAA-therapy for chronic HCV infection according to HCV genotype and co-medication. A transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) was performed for assessing sPAP and right ventricular (RV) function before therapy, 8 weeks after DAA-.. Read More»
  

  Abstract PDF