Zeitschrift für Bluterkrankungen und Transfusionen

Abstrakt

HCV Infection in Thalassemia Syndromes and Hemoglobinopathies

Tejo Chandra Vanteddu

Until 1990, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was one of the most severe complications of transfusion therapy in the thalassemia and sickle cell disease (SCD) population; in reality, serological tests to detect infection in blood donors have been available since 1990. Iron chelation therapy has extended the lives of these patients, resulting in a reduction in heart disease-related deaths as well as a rise in liver disease caused by iron overload and HCV infection, which leads to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Until recently, the recommended treatment for HCV was pegylated-interferon alpha plus ribavirin, a treatment.