Published: 13 June 2012
Doctors in Europe and the US have conflicting opinions about the pace of liver fibrosis in HIV-positive men with hepatitis C infection. In a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, European investigators showed that the pace of liver fibrosis slowed after the acute phase of infection. However, doctors from the US have published contrasting findings, showing that fibrosis continued to worsen with longer duration of co-infection.
The discrepancy between the studies could be a result of the methods used to evaluate liver fibrosis. The European investigators used Fibroscan, evaluating liver stiffness, whereas patients in the US study were monitored using liver biopsies.
There is an epidemic of sexually transmitted hepatitis C in HIV-positive gay men in Europe, the US and Australia. There is some evidence that co-infected patients experience an accelerated course of liver disease, with fibrosis developing soon after infection with hepatitis C. If this accelerated course of disease is maintained, then early hepatitis C therapy is a priority for co-infected HIV-positive people.
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