Perfil clínico de los pacientes españoles con Hepatitis C naïve con cirrosis compensada tratados en el estudio CREST

Background and aim of the study: There are still patients with hepatitis C in Spain who have yet to be diagnosed, but their clinical profile is unclear. In 2021, 21.93% of patients diagnosed had cirrhosis and were mostly treatment-naïve.Methods: This sub-analysis describes the clinical profile of the 60 Spanish treatment-naïve patients with compensated cirrhosis who were included in the CREST study.Major results: Sixty percent of patients were male, median age 56 years, and 33% had a history of drug use. Almost three-quarters (71.3%) had more than one comorbidity and 78.3% took concomitant medication. At treatment initiation, median platelet count was 139 x 103/µL and FibroScan® 17 kPa. No virological failure was observed and no patient discontinued treatment due to adverse events. No clinically significant changes were noted during or after treatment in the median platelet, albumin, bilirubin, and transaminase levels.Conclusions: Treatment with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir for 8 weeks in this cohort of treatment-naïve patients with compensated cirrhosis in Spain was safe and effective. This information reinforces the use of this short antiviral regimen even when there is compensated cirrhosis, simplifying the approach to hepatitis C among those patients still to be diagnosed and treated in Spain.