Incidence and Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease After Hepatitis C Seroconversion: Results from ERCHIVES.

Overview

abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We aimed to assess the incidence and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) following hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroconversion. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included Veterans with a confirmed HCV seroconversion between 2001 and 2014 and Veterans with negative HCV testing over the same time period. The outcomes included development of advanced CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) on two separate occasions at least 90 days apart, plus a ≥ 10 mL/min/1.73 m(2) decline from baseline) and progressive CKD (decline in eGFR of ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) from baseline). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between HCV and incident advanced and progressive CKD. RESULTS: The final cohort consisted of 71,528 Veterans, including 2589 with recently seroconverted HCV. Over a mean follow-up of 6 years, 36% of patients with and 31% without HCV developed advanced CKD (p < 0.001), and 35% of patients with vs. 26% without HCV developed progressive CKD (p < 0.001). After controlling for traditional risk factors, recently seroconverted HCV+ patients were significantly less likely to develop advanced CKD (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.79, 0.92), and HCV status was not significantly associated with progressive CKD (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.86, 1.00). Factors associated with developing advanced and progressive CKD included older age, female sex, diabetes, hypertension, development of cirrhosis, and substance abuse. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of newly infected US Veterans, HCV infection was associated with decreased incidence of advanced and unchanged risk of progressive CKD, suggesting a larger role for traditional risk factors in the development of CKD after HCV seroconversion.