Fifty-two patients on regular haemodialysis at our institution were evaluated for the presence of HCV infection. Evaluation included detailed history, clinical examination, and monthly screening for anti-HCV antibody, liver enzymes (ALT, AST), serum iron and ferritin. Also, three-monthly screening for other viral markers, HBV (HBsAg, HBsAb, HBcAb), CMV (IgG and IgM), EBV, and HIV. Anti-HCV antibody was found in 21 patients (40.4%). There was a significant (P less than 0.05) relationship between presence of anti-HCV antibody and proportion of patients who received blood transfusion. During a 12-month follow-up, four (11.4%) patients seroconverted to be Anti-HCV positive while one case (4.8%) seroconverted to be anti-HCV negative. The frequency of elevation of liver enzymes was significantly higher in Anti-HCV positive cases (14/18) than in negative cases (11/28, P = 0.01). Evaluation of liver biopsies of 13 patients showed chronic persistent hepatitis in six and chronic active hepatitis in seven cases. We concluded that hepatitis C is a common problem among chronic haemodialysis patients at our institution; HCV infection is documented in 70% of all clinically diagnosed NANB hepatitis. Presence of anti-HCV antibodies cannot differentiate between active and past infection and cases with early HCV infection can be missed when relying on the mere detection of anti-HCV antibodies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.