Assessing Adverse Cardiac Effects of Direct Antiviral Agents in Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients

Objective:To evaluate the effect of the direct antiviral agents (DAAs) which are recently involved in treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients on the cardiac function.

Patients and Method:The study conducted on one hundred subjects with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and treated with doses of sofosbuvir (SOF) plus daclatasvir (DCV) only or in addition to weight-based ribavirin (RBV) for 12 weeks. Level of human plasma B type naturetic peptide (BNP), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by echocardiography were evaluated to all subjects included before starting treatment and at the sixth week and after the twelfth week of the treatment.

Results:There were significant differences in levels of BNP and LVEF measurements through different times compared.

Conclusion:The patients included in the study with affected LVEF did not have heart failure symptoms. Statistically significant differences between parameters measured remained within the normal range.