Groundbreaking developments in HIV treatments have slowly begun to transition the disease into a chronic condition. Thankfully, patients are able to live long and full lives, but with that comes other challenges, particularly for those who are living with both HIV and the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Of the 2.3 million people in the world living with both HIV and HCV, up to 15% have end-stage liver disease that will most likely require a liver transplant. And with the dawn of a new era that includes highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, there is now hope for these patients that wasn’t there before.

In an effort to better understand the improvements to HIV/HCV co-infected liver transplantation, Jennifer Wang, MD, and her colleagues at the University of Chicago Medicine compared liver transplantation data from the pre-and post-DAA eras. In a blog post on Healio, Dr. Wang shared key findings from her research, including the positive outcomes from HIV/HCV co-infected liver transplants as a result of DAA therapy and why hospitals should consider liver transplants for these patients.

Dr. Wang presented data from the study “Raising Hope: Improved Outcomes for HIV/HCV Co-Infected Liver Transplant Recipients in the Direct-Acting Antiviral Era,” abstract 172, at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021.