Hepatitis-C virus antibodies (anti HCV) in haemodialyzed vs non-dialyzed patients.

Anti HCV was checked using Enzyme Immuno assay (EIA) (C100-3-Abbott) in 68 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) who were on maintenance haemodialysis and 48 patients on conservative management. Mean age of the patients was 50 years. The duration of illness ranged from 3 months to 18 years (mean 3 years). All patients were Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative. In haemodialyzed group 31 (46%) and in conservative group only 3 (6%) were Anti HCV positive. High Frequency of Anti HCV positivity in haemodialyzed group was related to period on dialysis (1 year) and number of blood transfusions (>4 units). Patients in whom dialyzer was re-used showed 60% positivity as compared to only 17% in those with single use. Anti HCV positivity predominated in females as compared to males, 42.6% vs 20.3%. Nine out of 10 patients with a history of jaundice and six out of 8 patients with raised transaminase levels were Anti HCV positive. Fifteen of 37 Anti HBc (IgG) positive cases were Anti HCV +ve.