Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes are distributed differently depending on geography and route of infection. We characterized the distribution of genotypes in a large cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C in the South-east of France and evaluated the relative prevalence according to time of acquisition. One thousand, one hundred-and-eighty-three patients who were anti-HCV-positive were studied. HCV genotype distribution has changed significantly from the 1960s to 2000. The prevalence of genotype 1b decreased from 47% before 1978 to 18.8% in the 1990s while the prevalence of genotype 1a and 3a increased during the same period from 18% and 15.3% to 28.8% and 26.3%, respectively. The logistic regression model showed that genotype 1a was significantly more common in patients infected through intravenous drug injection odds ratio ((OR): 2.08, P < 0.01) and after 1990 (OR: 1.98, P < 0.05). Genotype 1b was significantly less frequent in patients infected through intravenous drug injection (OR: 0.17, P < 0.001) and has decreased since 1978 (OR: 0.27, P < 0.001). Genotype 3a was independently associated with intravenous drug injection (OR: 6.1, P < 0.001) and tattooing (OR: 8.01, P < 0.001) and was more frequent in the 1979-90 period (OR: 2.05 and 1.74, P < 0.001 and P < 0.05). Our results show a modification of HCV genotypes distribution over the last four decades due to an increase of intravenous drug use (IVDU) contamination and an evolution of HCV genotypes distribution only in IVDU population characterized by a decrease of genotype 1b, an increase of genotype 3a from 1970 to 1990 and a higher increase of genotype 1a which is currently the predominant genotype in our population.

This prospective independent and multicenter study confirms the diagnostic value of FT and AT found in the princeps study and suggests that FT and AT can be an alternative to biopsy in most patients with chronic HCV.

Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) always leads to oxalate accumulation throughout the body (oxalosis). Currently available epidemiological data only concern patients with end-stage kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT). French nephrologists have been questioned about PH1 patients who were under their care between 1988 and 1992. Exhaustive answers were obtained and 90 cases of PH1 were collected. The average prevalence rate of PH1 was 1.05/10(6) and its average incidence rate was 0.12/10(6)/year. The median age at onset was 5 years (0-63) and initial symptoms involved the urinary tract in 82% of the cases. Half the patients were younger than 10 years at the time of diagnosis on the basis of urine oxalate (89%) +/- urine glycolate (43%) +/- plasma oxalate (71%) +/- hepatic alanine:glyoxylate amino-transferase activity (48%). At the time of the survey, 36% of patients were on a conservative treatment, 37% were transplanted and 27% were on maintenance haemodialysis; the crude mortality rate was 19% (median age 36 years). Patients on dialysis started RRT at a median age of 25 years. Transplanted patients received their first transplant at a median age of 29.5 years; among those patients with more than 1 year follow-up, 15 received an isolated kidney transplant (one success), one had a isolated liver transplant (one success) and 10 combined liver-kidney transplant (eight successes). These data confirm the rarity of PH1 together with its poor prognosis; as shown in the European experience, early combined liver-kidney transplantation seems to be the best therapeutic proposal.