A systematic review of direct acting antiviral therapies in hepatitis C virus-negative liver transplant recipients of hepatitis C-viremic donors

The introduction of safe and highly effective direct acting antivirals (DAAs) has significantly improved hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment outcomes after transplant. The solid organ transplant community has sought to identify strategies aimed at increasing the donor pool including the utilization of HCV-viremic organs in HCV-negative recipients. We will review the existing literature to evaluate DAA use for the treatment of HCV viremia post-liver transplant in patients who receive HCV-viremic allografts. A PubMed search was conducted and references for each study were also reviewed to identify additional articles. Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case series, and case reports were included if: published in English language, evaluated DAA treatment outcomes after liver only or simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation with HCV-viremic allografts in HCV-negative recipients, and had full-text article availability. Our review included 16 studies and 2 case reports. The majority of liver transplant recipients were treated with a pangenotypic DAA for 12 weeks with a heterogeneous median time to initiation (range 1.7-118 days). Sustained virologic response was assessed in 253 liver transplant patients with 99.6% achieving cure with minimal DAA-attributed adverse drug events. There were 23 reported episodes of rejection, 12 deaths, and 1 graft loss among all studies. Treatment with DAA after transplantation of HCV-viremic livers into HCV-negative recipients appears to be safe and effective; however, long-term outcomes remain unknown. Transplant pharmacists play a key role in the development of center-specific protocols to optimize post-transplant outcomes in this unique patient population.