European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology
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Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol · Jun 2018
Multicenter StudyCharacteristics of patients with hepatitis C virus-related chronic liver diseases just before the era of oral direct-acting antiviral therapy in Italy.
In 2017, oral direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection became available free of charge for all HCV-RNA-positive patients, irrespective of their fibrosis stage. ⋯ Currently, in Italy, chronic HCV infection plays a decreasing role in CLD, showing a shift toward older age groups and a more severe disease stage. These data, relating to just before the era of DAA therapy for this infection, represent up-to-date reference data for evaluating the effectiveness of DAAs in the future.