It is still controversial, whether and to what amount cirrhosis and portal hypertension are reversible in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated cirrhosis and sustained virologic response (SVR) after interferon-free antiviral therapy. In this study, we prospectively evaluated dynamics of liver and spleen stiffness in HCV-infected patients with advanced liver disease and SVR after interferon-free treatment. A total of 54 patients with HCV-associated cirrhosis and SVR were included. Liver and spleen stiffness was measured at therapy baseline (BL), end of treatment (EOT) and 24 weeks after EOT (FU24) by transient liver elastography (L-TE) as well as by acoustic radiation force impulse of the liver (L-ARFI) and spleen (S-ARFI), as well as biochemical, virologic and clinical data. Improvement of liver and spleen stiffness was found in 44 of 50 (88%), 31 of 54 (57%) and 25 of 54 (46%) of patients assessed by L-TE, L-ARFI and S-ARFI between baseline and FU24. Liver stiffness assessed by L-TE improved between BL [median (range), 32.5 (9.1-75) kPa] and EOT [median (range), 21.3 (6.7-73.5) kPa; (P<.0001)], and between BL and FU24 [median (range), 21.2 (5.4-70) kPa; (P<.0001)]. Liver stiffness assessed by L-ARFI improved between BL [median (range), 2.7 (1.2-4.1) m/s] and FU24 [median (range), 2.4 (1.2-3.9) m/s; P=.002), while spleen stiffness remained unchanged. Our data suggest that improvement of liver stiffness may be rather due to reduced necroinflammation and may be due to a less extent to regression of cirrhosis, as dynamics of liver stiffness improvement was more pronounced between BL and EOT than BL and FU24.

Long‐term effects on cirrhosis and portal hypertension of direct antiviral agent (DAA)‐based eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) are still under debate. We analysed dynamics of liver and spleen elastography to assess potential regression of cirrhosis and portal hypertension 3 years post‐treatment. Fifty‐four patients with HCV‐associated cirrhosis and DAA‐induced SVR were included. Liver and spleen stiffness were measured at baseline (BL), end of treatment (EOT), 24 weeks after EOT (FU24) and 1, 2 and 3 (FU144) years post‐treatment by transient liver elastography (L‐TE) and point shear wave elastography (pSWE) using acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) of the liver (L‐ARFI) and spleen (S‐ARFI). Biochemical, virological and clinical data were also obtained. Liver stiffness assessed by L‐TE decreased between BL [median (range), 32.5(9.1–75) kPa] and EOT [21.3(6.7–73.5) kPa; p < .0001] and EOT and FU144 [16(4.1–75) kPa; p = .006]. L‐ARFI values improved between EOT [2.5(1.2–4.1) m/s] and FU144 [1.7(0.9–4.1) m/s; p = .001], while spleen stiffness remained unchanged. Overall, L‐TE improved in 38 of 54 (70.4%) patients at EOT and 29 of 38 (76.3%) declined further until FU144, whereas L‐ARFI values decreased in 30/54 (55.6%) patients at EOT and continued to decrease in 28/30 (93.3%) patients at FU144. Low bilirubin and high albumin levels at BL were associated with improved L‐ARFI values (p = .048) at EOT or regression of cirrhosis (<12.5 kPa) by L‐TE at FU144 (p = .005), respectively. Liver stiffness, but not spleen stiffness, continued to decline in a considerable proportion of patients with advanced liver disease after HCV eradication.

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