Expanded benefits of curing the extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection

HCV infection is a major global health threat. HCV is estimated to infect ~71.1 million persons worldwide and to cause approximately 400 000 deaths annually.1 Although HCV-related mortality is reportedly due to the end-stage complications of chronic hepatitis C (decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma), the above official figures do not take into consideration the mortality attributable to the multifaceted extrahepatic disorders caused by this pathogen.2 3 The list of such extrahepatic manifestations (EHM) is long and includes—but is not limited to—the cryoglobulinaemia-associated syndrome (characterised by fatigue, arthralgia, skin vasculitis, glomerulonephritis and cerebritis, among others), some subtypes of non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma, insulin resistance (which may progress to type 2 diabetes and its cardiovascular sequelae) and various neurological conditions, such as cognitive dysfunction. The causal link between most of these EHM and HCV infection has been established, thanks to a wealth of epidemiological and clinical data, and especially...

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