KDIGO Hepatitis C Guidelines Updated

Advances in antiviral therapies cited

BY NATASHA PERSAUD

PROMPTED by advances in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and increased use of HCV-positive kidney grafts, the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) organization reexamined and updated its 2018 guideline recommendations for preventing and managing hepatitis C in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The KDIGO 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prevention, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Hepatitis C in Chronic Kidney Disease, published in Kidney International, provides additional recommendations for diagnosing and managing kidney diseases associated with hepatitis C.

Direct-Acting Antivirals

Members of the KDIGO work group that updated the guidelines highlighted the important impact of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies, which they noted are highly effective and welltolerated for treating HCV-infected patients across all CKD stages, including those on dialysis and kidney transplant recipients, with no dose adjustment needed. The efficacy and safety