Bendich I, et al. – Via retrospective analysis of 2014-2018 data (n=42,628) from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, investigators assessed whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a modifiable risk factor in total joint arthroplasty (TJA) by comparing postoperative complications among patients with and without preoperative HCV treatment. They also determined lower prosthetic joint infection rates among US veterans. The investigators found that 6.0% of TJA patients had HCV, of whom 17.3% had received HCV treatment preoperatively. They noted lower implant infection rates at 90-days and 1-year postoperatively among treated HCV candidates vs untreated individuals. Among HCV-treated patients, odds ratios favored lower infection rates. They found lower rates of pneumonia and urinary tract infection in treated patients.