In terms of one- and five-year survival for patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) who receive a new liver, it apparently doesn't matter if the donor was infected with the same virus.
Hugo E. Vargas, MD, and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center studied 23 patients with HCV who received new HCV-positive livers from 1992 to 1995 and compared them with 169 patients who underwent transplantation for HCV-related cirrhosis and received HCV-negative livers. One-year survival was 89% and 88%, respectively, for patients who received HCV-positive and HCV-negative livers. Five-year survival was 72% and 73%, respectively.
The findings suggest that livers infected with HCV can provide life-saving options for transplant candidates who have HCV. "On the clinical side, this study shows us that HCV-infected livers that are well preserved should be considered viable options for HCV-positive patients needing transplants. On the research side, it expands our understanding of the biology of this virus, how it affects the liver, and how we can better treat patients living with hepatitis C," Dr. Vargas said in a statement released by the American Gastroenterological Association.
The study also showed that, among the patients receiving an HCV-positive liver, those in whom the donor strain of the virus became predominant remained disease-free significantly longer than patients who retained their original viral strain. That finding probably indicates that "a more benign strain takes over," said coauthor Tomasz Laskus, MD, PhD. "The virus didn't cause significant disease in the donor and, if it becomes predominant in the recipient, we see that it still does not cause significant disease."
The study was published in the July issue of Gastroenterology (1999;117:149-153).
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