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Fatigue In HCV Infection: A Review (1989 - 2011)


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Wed

05

Jun

2013

Liver kept alive outside of body in transplant first

A human liver kept alive and functioning outside of the body has been successfully transplanted in a world first that may revolutionise the procedure.

Using a new device developed at Oxford University, doctors at King's College Hospital were able to keep the liver functioning as normal after removing it from the donor. The liver was then successfully transplanted into a patient.

Ordinarily a transplanted liver is "kept on ice" and cooled to slow its metabolism. The new device maintains the liver at body temperature and keeps nutrients and oxygenated red blood cells, matched to the donor's blood type, circulating through its capillaries. 

"The machine recreates an environment which is similar to the human body -- in effect the organ never knows it's left the body," Constantin Coussios, professor at Oxford University's Department of Engineering Science and one of the device's inventors -- alongside Peter Friend, director of the Oxford Transplant Centre -- told Wired.co.uk. Their spinout company, OrganOx, is commercialising the device.

With this new technology, a liver could be kept alive for up to 24 hours, transforming the way liver transplants are carried out and possibly reducing the wastage that occurs from damaged organs. The technology has been used in two liver transplant procedures with patients on the waiting list. Both were successful.

 

Tue

21

May

2013

What About Us? - Pakistan & Hepatitis C

Directly acting antiviral (DAA) agents are currently revolutionizing the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. The first generation of these agents have significant limitations including cost issues that are of particular concern in the developing world and a lack of efficacy in genotype 3 patients. Both of these concerns are of particular relevance in Pakistan.

One cannot attend any major international liver conference over the past 1 year and not be struck by the vast array of new directly acting antiviral (DAA) agents currently in the pipeline. Telaprevir and boceprevir have already been licensed for use in Western countries. Although these and other agents will revolutionize the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, these advances threaten to leave some parts of the world, the developing world in particular, and a large proportion of the world's hepatitis C burden, behind.

 

Thu

16

May

2013

Baby Boomer Resource Feedback

Baby boomer resource feedback

Hepatitis Queensland has produced a poster to be used during the 2013 World Hepatitis Day campaign. The primary aim of this resource is to engage the baby boomer generation with healthcare services and management of their hepatitis C.  We are currently collecting comments on this draft.  If you can help us with providing feedback that would be appreciated. Go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BabyBoomerWHD13  and submit your comments before 5:00PM Wednesday 22 May 2013.

 

Thu

16

May

2013

Hep Survey & Win iPad Mini

There are several promising new hepatitis C treatments in development, including the first all oral medications, which may be of use to you, your family and friends affected by hepatitis C.

Our team tries to find new answers that could help you and the rest of our online community – this is why we’re asking you the following questions.

The survey will only take around 5 minutes of your time, your responses will remain confidential and anonymous and, at the end of the survey, you’ll be able to enter a prize draw for a chance to win an iPad mini.

We would greatly appreciate if you could complete the survey and, if appropriate, share with friends and on your site.

The winner will be selected at random and notified by email by 24 May 2013.

Survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5HD7SKN

 

Sun

28

Apr

2013

Oral Regimen Sustains Hepatitis C Viral Response to 24 Weeks

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — A regimen of 3 direct-acting antiviral drugs plus ritonavir and ribavirin produced sustained virologic response rates in more than 90% of a broad range of patients infected with hepatitis C 24 weeks after therapy, results from a new clinical trial show.

Kris Kowdley, MD, from the Liver Center of Excellence in the Digestive Disease Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, presented the results here at the International Liver Congress 2013.

The randomized, open-label, multicenter phase 2b trial, known as Aviator, shows that the sustained virologic responses seen at 12 weeks with an all-oral interferon-free regimen, presented last year at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of the Liver Diseases by Dr. Kowdley, are sustainable.

In the Aviator trial, noncirrhotic patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus who were treatment-naïve or had not responded to peginterferon and ribavirin were treated with combinations of direct-acting antiviral drugs with or without ribavirin for 8, 12, or 24 weeks.

The direct-acting antiviral drugs were once-daily ABT-450r (an NS3/4A protease inhibitor boosted with ritonavir), once-daily ABT-267 (an NS5A inhibitor), and twice-daily ABT-333 (a non-nucleoside NS5B inhibitor).

The 571 patients were predominantly white, and the mean age was 48 to 53 years. The majority, 59% to 71%, had hepatitis C genotype 1a, and mean baseline viral load was 6.6 log10 hepatitis C RNA. Overall, 27% to 34% of treatment-naive patients had genotype IL28B CC, whereas only 2% to 4% of the null responders did.

Patients coinfected with HIV or hepatitis B were excluded from the study.

For the 79 treatment-naive patients who received the regimen consisting of 3 direct-acting antiviral drugs plus ribavirin for 12 weeks, 96% achieved sustained virologic response rates at 24 weeks (99% achieved this at 12 weeks).

 
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