KDIGO 2018 CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE FOR THE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, EVALUATION, AND TREATMENT OF HEPATITIS C IN CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2018 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prevention, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Hepatitis C in Chronic Kidney Disease represents a complete update of the prior guideline published in 2008. This guideline is intended to assist the practitioner caring for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), including those who are on chronic dialysis therapy and individuals with a kidney transplant. Specifically, the topic areas for which new recommendations are issued include detection and evaluation of HCV in CKD; treatment of HCV infection in patients with CKD; management of HCV-infected patients before and after kidney transplantation; prevention of HCV transmission in hemodialysis units; and diagnosis and management of kidney diseases associated with HCV infection. Development of this guideline update followed an explicit process of evidence review and appraisal. Treatment approaches and guideline recommendations are based on systematic reviews of relevant studies, and appraisal of the quality of the evidence and the strength of recommendations followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Limitations of the evidence are discussed, with areas of future research also presented.