[Hepatitis C in hemodialysis patients]

Characteristics of chronic hepatitis C in 99 hemodialysis patients were studied. Eleven out of 18 anti-HCV-positive patients(61.1%) and 13 out of 81 anti-HCV-negative patients (16.0%) were HCV-RNA-positive. Twenty four HCV-RNA-positive patients were divided into 2 groups according to anti-HCV-positivity. Seven out of 11 patients in anti-HCV-positive group and 1 out of 13 in anti-HCV-negative group were infected with more than 100 K copies/ml of HCV. A number of HCV-RNA copy was significantly larger in anti-HCV-positive group. Fourteen biopsies and necropsies in hemodialysis were achieved and the histological diagnosis did not correspond to clinical feature of chronic hepatitis C.