Persistence of Virologic Response after Liver Transplant in Hepatitis C Patients Treated with Ledipasvir/Sofosbuvir Plus Ribavirin Pretransplant

Abstract

Introduction. Recurrence of HCV infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) at the time of liver transplantation is nearly universal and reduces the likelihood of graft and patient survival. Materials and methods. We evaluated outcomes of 17 patients (16 with HCV genotype 1 and 1 with genotype 4) who received up to 12 or 24 weeks of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir plus ribavirin prior to or up to the time of liver transplant in the SOLAR-1 and SOLAR-2 trials. In all patients, HCV RNA was < 15 IU/mL prior to transplant. At screening, 6 patients were Child-Pugh-Turcotte (CPT) class B and 11 were CPT class C. Seven patients underwent transplant prior to completing assigned treatment, with 4 treated for < 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was posttransplant virologic response 12 weeks after transplant (pTVR12) in patients with HCV RNA < 15 IU/mL at their last measurement prior to transplant. Results. Overall, 94% (16/17) achieved pTVR12. All who achieved pTVR12 received at least 11 weeks of treatment. The single patient who did not achieve pTVR12 discontinued study drug on day 21 and underwent liver transplant the following day. The patient had HCV RNA < 15 IU/mL at post-transplant week 2 but died 15 days post-transplant because of multi-organ failure and septic shock. Conclusion. Among a small population of HCV patients with decompensated cirrhosis, virologic response to ledipasvir / sofosbuvir plus ribavirin prior to liver transplantation was maintained after transplantation, even if treatment was stopped early. Administration of ledipasvir / sofosbuvir plus ribavirin before liver transplant can prevent post-transplant HCV recurrence.