The authors describe the first report in the literature of central retinal artery occlusion as the presenting manifestation of sarcoidosis. A 33-year-old man with asthma, headache, and 6 days of intermittent, transient vision loss in the OS presented with persistent vision loss in the OS. Ophthalmic examination was consistent with diagnosis of central retinal artery occlusion in the OS. Vascular imaging with CT angiography revealed an incidental finding of an intraconal mass surrounding the left optic nerve and hilar lymphadenopathy. Broncho scopic lymph node biopsy demonstrated noncaseating granulomas consistent with sarcoidosis. This case proffers a unique mechanism of vision loss in sarcoidosis and highlights that atypical causes of central retinal artery occlusion must be considered in patients without typical risk factors.
Patients receiving therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection frequently experience cytopenias and weight loss. We retrospectively assessed the pharmacodynamic effects of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2a and ribavirin by evaluating the relationship between changes in hematologic parameters, body weight, and virologic response. Patients with HCV genotypes 1, 4, 5, or 6 receiving 24 or 48 weeks of PEG-IFN alfa-2a and ribavirin therapy were pooled from four phase 3/4 trials. Maximum decreases in hemoglobin level, neutrophil count, platelet count, and weight during therapy were assessed according to virologic response category (sustained virologic response [SVR], relapse, breakthrough, and nonresponder) and race/ethnicity. Of 1,778 patients analyzed, more than half were male, non-Hispanic Caucasian, and infected with HCV genotype 1; had a baseline HCV RNA >800,000; and had alanine aminotransferase levels ≤3 × the upper limit of normal. Virologic responders (SVR, relapse, and breakthrough) experienced greater maximum decreases from baseline in hemoglobin level, neutrophil count, platelet count, and weight compared with nonresponders; however, no clear trend was observed between SVR, relapse, and breakthrough. After adjusting for drug exposure and treatment duration, only decreases in neutrophil count remained associated with virologic response. Significantly greater declines in neutrophil (P < 0.0001) and platelet (P < 0.005) count were observed at weeks 4, 12, and 24 of therapy in virologic responders compared with nonresponders. This difference between responders and nonresponders was also observed among racial/ethnic groups, although statistical significance was not consistent across all groups.This post hoc analysis of HCV patients treated with PEG-IFN alfa-2a and ribavirin shows that maximum decreases from baseline in hematologic parameters and weight loss were associated with virologic response. However, after adjusting for drug exposure and accounting for duration of therapy, only neutropenia was independently associated with virologic response.
The Simeprevir ObservatioNal Effectiveness across practice seTtings (SONET) study evaluated the real-world effectiveness of simeprevir-based treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.The SONET study was a phase 4, prospective, observational, United States-based study enrolling patients ≥18 years of age with chronic genotype 1 HCV infection. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients who achieved sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12), defined as HCV ribonucleic acid undetectable ≥12 weeks after the end of all HCV treatments.Of 315 patients (intent-to-treat [ITT] population), 275 (87.3%) completed the study. Overall, 291 were treated with simeprevir + sofosbuvir, 17 with simeprevir + sofosbuvir + ribavirin, and 7 with simeprevir + peginterferon + ribavirin. The majority of patients were male (63.2%) and white (60.6%); median age was 58 years, 71.7% had genotype/subtype 1a, and 39.4% had cirrhosis. The SVR12 was achieved by 81.2% (255 of 314) of ITT patients (analysis excluded 1 patient who completed the study but was missing SVR12 data); 2 had viral breakthrough and 18 had viral relapse. The SVR12 was achieved by 92.4% (255 of 276) of patients in the modified ITT (mITT) population, which excluded patients who discontinued treatment for nonvirologic reasons before the SVR12 time point or were missing SVR12 assessment data. Among mITT patients, higher SVR12 rates were associated with factors including age ≥65 years, non-Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, and employment status, but not genotype/subtype nor presence of cirrhosis. Simeprevir-based treatment was well tolerated; no serious adverse events were considered related to simeprevir.In the real-world setting, simeprevir + sofosbuvir treatment was common and 92% of mITT patients achieved SVR12. Simeprevir-based treatment was effective and well tolerated in this cohort, including patients with cirrhosis.
