HCV Reactivation Risk in Patients Undergoing Treatment for Inflammatory Arthritis and Connective Tissue Diseases

Patients with Autoimmune Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases (AIRD), who receive immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory treatments, have a significantly higher risk for opportunistic infections or exacerbation of chronic ones, including infectious hepatitis. In this regard, the management of AIRD patients with concomitant hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) is often challenging. Importantly, evidence on the safety of immunosuppressive/immunomodulatory treatments are mainly derived from patients with chronic HBV infection, whereas data on patients with co-existing HCV infection are limited, especially for newer targeted synthetic (ts-) or biologic (b-) disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).