Rilpivirine use in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study: a prospective cohort study. BMC Infectious Diseases
Sculier et al. aimed to determine the reasons for prescribing the rilpivirine (RPV)/tenofovir disoproxil (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC) co-formulation within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) and to assess its effectiveness and safety over a 24 months period. All individuals enrolled in the SHCS who initiated a RPV/TDF/FTC co-formulation between April 2013 and March 2014 were included.
Among the 644 patients who started the RPV/TDF/FTC co-formulation, 48 (7.5%) were cART-naïve, representing only 10.5% of the total number of HIV-naïve patients enrolled in the SHCS and initiated cART during the same time period. At 24 months, viral suppression (HIV-RNA
In conclusion, the study demonstrates that rilpivirine, tenofovir disoproxil and emtricitabine in a fixed dose combination is an effective cART regimen in both treatment-experienced and -naïve patients under routine clinical conditions, although RPV was rarely used in naïve patients. RPV demonstrates a favourable neurological toxicity profile with most patients experiencing CNS side effects on efavirenz improving after a switch to RPV and very low discontinuation rate for CNS events when compared to efavirenz or integrase inhibitor.