Background In the last few years, new drugs (boceprevir and telaprevir) have been approved for treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1 infection. Triple Therapy (TT) (boceprevir or telaprevir + peginterferon + ribavirin) has proved to be more effective than dual therapy (peginterferon + ribavirin), but TT is associated with high rates of adverse events (AEs), mainly cutaneous and haematological events, which can affect adherence to treatment.

Purpose To study the frequency of cutaneous and haematological AEs in patients treated for HCV in our hospital.

Material and methods Retrospective observational study in which the authors collected cutaneous and haematological AEs reported by all HCV patients between January 2013 and April 2014. The CTCAE V 4.0 scale was used to evaluate the severity of AEs.

Results 30 patients received HCV treatment, 18 men and 12 women. The average age was 46.5 ± 8.4 years. 13 (43.3%) were treated with TT: 6 with telaprevir and 7 with boceprevir. 15 patients (50%) had anaemia (7 with TT), which became grade 2 (<10 g/dL) in 5 patients (30%) treated with TT (2 with boceprevir and 3 with telaprevir). These five patients required ribavirin dose reduction. No patient required transfusion or erythropoietin treatment. 17 (56.7%) developed thrombocytopenia (10 treated with TT). Only one patient required peginterferon dose reduction to 135 mcg because he had a platelet count <50,000/µL. 21 patients (70%) had skin reactions, of which 10 (47.6%) were treated with TT. Skin reactions became grade 2 in 6 patients with TT in comparison with 2 patients with dual therapy.

Conclusion The frequency of observed cutaneous and haematological AEs in our study fits our expectations in the light of the published studies. Considering the higher cost of these treatments and the higher risk of non-adherence due to their AEs, pharmacotherapy follow-up on these patients is essential.

References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.