(1) Background: Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) has demonstrated high efficacy and an excellent safety profile. The cured patients showed a sustained virological response and improved liver function, but also a continued risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during the 2–3 years of follow-up after treatment; (2) Methods: A total of 192 patients out of 209 of the primary AMBER study were analyzed five years after treatment with ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir with or without dasabuvir and with or without ribavirin. Results: We confirmed that HCV clearance after DAA treatment is stable regardless of baseline liver fibrosis. We found that sustained virologic response is associated with a gradual but significant reduction in liver stiffness over 5 years. Liver function improved during the first 2 years of follow-up and remained stable thereafter. The risk of death due to HCC as well as death due to HCV persists through 5 years of follow-up after successful DAA treatment. However, in non-cirrhotic patients, it appears to clear up 3 years after treatment; (3) Conclusions: Monitoring for more than 5 years after curing HCV infection is necessary to assess the long-term risk of possible development of HCC, especially in patients with cirrhosis of the liver.

Objectives. Ascites and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) are among the most important complications of decompensated liver cirrhosis. In clinical practice, new inflammation biomarkers are needed for the early diagnosis of SBP, as well-known biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), or peripheral blood white blood cell (WBC) count, lack the required specificity and sensitivity. The aim of the study was to evaluate the significance of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in comparison to CRP, PCT, WBC, and D-dimers in the diagnosis of SBP.Design. Cross-sectional descriptive single-center study.Setting. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.Patients. All patients admitted to the aforementioned department with decompensated liver cirrhosis and ascites between February 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.Intervention. Several markers (HBP, CRP, PCT, WBC, and D-dimers) were analysed in blood serum in regard to their potential use in the diagnosis of SBP in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis and ascites. We correlated the levels of the aforementioned markers with an ascitic fluid polymorphonuclear count using simple linear regression and multiple linear regression. Sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative predictive values for SBP were calculated for the aforementioned makers of inflammation.Measurements and Main Results. A total of 63 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis and ascites participated in the study. The etiology of liver cirrhosis was varied (HCV:n=40, HBV:n=13, HCV/HBV:n=4, AIH:n=3, PBC:n=2, and haemochromatosis:n=1). After the peritoneal tap, 31 patients were determined to have SBP (defined as an ascitic fluid polymorphonuclear count > 250 cells/μL) and 32 patients had no evidence of SBP on peritoneal tap. A very weak, but statistically significant, correlation of HBP, WBC, and D-dimer levels with the peritoneal fluid polymorphonuclear (PMN) count was observed in the simple regression model, but multivariable analysis using the multiple regression model showed that only D-dimers correlated with peritoneal fluid PMNs independently from other inflammation biomarkers. A D-dimer cutoff value of 1500 ng/mL was determined optimal for ruling out SBP due to high sensitivity (96.8%) and a high negative predictive value (92.9%), although predictably, this marker was not useful for confirming SBP due to low specificity (40.6%) and a low positive predictive value (61.2%). The usefulness of D-dimers was limited by the fact that only 22.2% of the studied patients had D-dimer levels below 1500 ng/mL. HBP and WBC showed little to no predictive value in this study.Conclusions. D-dimers < 1500 ng/mL make the diagnosis of SBP unlikely, although the peritoneal tap is still the reference method in such situations. In the studied group, the determination of HBP was of no diagnostic benefit in the diagnosis of SBP.

Introduction Delay in HIV diagnosis and consequently late care entry with low CD4 counts remain a major challenge for the control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The aim of this study was to analyse the evolution of characteristics of the HIV epidemic in Poland. Methods Cross‐sectional data were collected for 3972 HIV‐infected patients followed up in 14 of 17 Polish HIV treatment centres in the years 2000–2015. Clinical data were analysed and factors associated with late presentation (baseline CD4 count < 350 cells/μL or history of AIDS‐defining illness) and advanced HIV disease (baseline CD4 count < 200 cells/μL or history of AIDS) were identified. Results The majority (57.6%) of patients entered care late, while 35.6% presented with advanced HIV disease. The odds of being linked to care late or with advanced HIV disease increased consistently across age categories, increasing from 2.55 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46–4.47] for late presentation and 3.13 (95% CI 1.49–6.58) for advanced disease for the 21–30‐year‐old category to 5.2 (95% CI 1.94–14.04) and 8.15 (95% CI 2.88–23.01), respectively, for individuals > 60 years of age. Increased risks of late entry and advanced HIV disease were also observed for injecting drug users [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.74 (95% CI 1.16–2.60) and 1.55 (95% CI 1.05–2.30), respectively], with lower aOR associated with the men who have sex with men transmission route [aOR 0.3 (95% CI 0.31–0.59) and 0.39 (95% CI 0.29–0.53), respectively]. The frequencies of cases in which patients were linked to care late and with advanced HIV disease decreased over time from 67.6% (2000) to 53.5% (2015) (P < 0.0001) and from 43.5% (2000) to 28.4% (2015) (P = 0.001), respectively. Conclusions Despite improvements over time, most patients diagnosed with HIV infection entered care late, with a third presenting with advanced HIV disease. Late care entry remains common among people who inject drugs and heterosexual groups.

Background. Coagulation disorders in patients with liver cirrhosis are a common clinical problem. Cirrhosis should be considered a state of impaired blood clotting or an imbalance of the whole coagulation system. Cirrhosis-induced coagulopathy encompasses disturbances in both the procoagulant and anticoagulant systems. This mechanism may promote the development of thrombosis with portal vein thrombosis (PVT), which is considered an obstacle to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We assessed serum ADAMTS-13 levels in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, with and without PVT. Material and Methods. Serum ADAMTS-13 levels, age, platelet count (PLT), and INR (international normalized ratio) were evaluated in (n=64) patients with liver cirrhosis either with PVT (group 1, n=31) or without PVT (group 2, n=33). The results were compared with those from healthy volunteers (group 3, n=37). Liver cirrhosis was based on Desmet’s classification of chronic hepatitis in liver biopsy stage ≥ 3 or liver elastography F-score ≥ 3. Serum ADAMTS-13 levels were measured with Quantikine® ELISA Human ADAMTS13 Immunoassay, R&D Systems Inc. We used Welch’s F-test, Games-Howell, one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni test, and logistic regression to determine whether ADAMTS-13 levels were a predictor that was independent of MELD and Child-Pugh scores. All results (P<0.05) were considered statistically significant. Results. The mean serum ADAMTS-13 level in patients with PVT was significantly lower than that in patients without PVT (P=0.001) and controls (P=0.001). The mean serum ADAMTS-13 level in patients without PVT was significantly lower than that in controls (P=0.001). ADAMTS-13 levels were significantly associated with PVT accounting for the Child-Pugh or MELD score in the logistic regression model. Conclusions. Low serum ADAMTS-13 levels can be a useful indicator of portal thrombosis in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis irrespective of Child-Pugh or MELD scores. Further research is needed to determine whether ADAMTS-13 levels will find use in everyday clinical practice.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and retroviral therapy are both known risk factors for cardiovascular disease. It remains an open question whether HIV or ARV leads to increased arterial inflammation. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in endothelial activation by measuring VCAM-1 levels among HIV-infected patients who were and were not treated with antiretroviral therapy. It is a retrospective study that included 68 HIV-infected patients, 23 of whom were never antiretroviral-treated, 15 who were ART-treated for no longer than a year, and 30 who were ART-treated for longer than a year. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis of the concentration of VCAM-1. The results show a statistically lower VCAM-1 level (p = 0.007) in patients treated with ART longer than a year (1442 ng/mL) in comparison to treatment-naïve patients (2392 ng/mL). The average VCAM-1 level in patients treated no longer than a year (1552 ng/mL) was also lower than in treatment-naïve patients, but with no statistical significance (p = 0.096). Long-term antiretroviral therapy was associated with the decline of VCAM-1 concentration. That may suggest the lowering of endothelial activation and the decreased risk of the development of cardiovascular disease among ARV-treated patients. However, VCAM-1 may not be a sufficient factor itself to assess this, since simultaneously there are a lot of well-known cardiovascular-adverse effects of ART.

Introduction: Modern combined antiretroviral therapies (cART) allow to effectively suppress HIV‐1 viral load, with the 90% virologic success rate, meeting the WHO target in most clinical settings. The aim of this study was to analyse antiretroviral treatment efficacy in Poland and to identify variables associated with virologic suppression.Methods: Cross‐sectional data on 5152 (56.92% of the countrywide treated at the time‐point of analysis) patients on cART for more than six months with at least one HIV‐RNA measurement in 2016 were collected from 14 Polish centres. Patients’ characteristics and treatment type‐based outcomes were analysed for the virologic suppression thresholds of <50 and <200 HIV‐RNA copies/ml. CART was categorized into two nucleos(t)ide (2NRTI) plus non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NNRTI) inhibitors, 2NRTI plus protease (PI) inhibitor, 2NRTI plus integrase (InI) inhibitor, nucleos(t)ide sparing PI/r+InI and three drug class regimens. For statistics Chi‐square and U‐Mann Whitney tests and adjusted multivariate logistic regression models were used.Results: Virologic suppression rates of <50 copies/mL were observed in 4672 (90.68%) and <200 copies/mL in 4934 (95.77%) individuals. In univariate analyses, for the suppression threshold <50 copies/mL higher efficacy was noted for 2NRTI+NNRTI‐based combinations (94.73%) compared to 2NRTI+PI (89.93%), 2NRTI+InI (90.61%), nucleos(t)ide sparing PI/r+InI (82.02%) and three drug class regimens (74.49%) (p < 0.0001), with less pronounced but significant differences for the threshold of 200 copies/mL [2NRTI+NNRTI‐97.61%, 2NRTI+PI‐95.27%, 2NRTI+InI‐96.61%, PI/r+InI‐ 95.51% and 86.22% for three drug class cART) (p < 0.0001). However, in multivariate model, virologic efficacy for viral load <50 copies/mL was similar across treatment groups with significant influence by history of AIDS [OR:1.48 (95%CI:1.01–2.17) if AIDS diagnosed, p = 0.046], viral load < 5 log copies/mL at care entry [OR:1.47 (95%CI:1.08–2.01), p = 0.016], baseline lymphocyte CD4 count ≥200 cells/µL [OR:1.72 (95%CI:1.04–2.78), p = 0.034] and negative HCV serology [OR:1.97 (95%CI:1.29–2.94), p = 0.002]. For viral load threshold <200 copies/mL higher likelihood of virologic success was only associated with baseline lymphocyte CD4 count ≥200 cells/µL [OR:2.08 (95%CI:1.01–4.35), p = 0.049] and negative HCV status [OR:2.84 (95%CI:1.52–5.26), p = 0.001].Conclusions: Proportion of virologically suppressed patients is in line with WHO treatment target confirming successful application of antiretroviral treatment strategy in Poland. Virological suppression rates depend on baseline patient characteristics, which should guide individualized antiretroviral tre0atment decisions.