[Chronic hepatitis C in children after perinatal infection]

This retrospective study was carried out in the "Medecine Infantile 3 et Genetique" service at Brabois University Hospital in Nancy (France). We collected 14 cases of chronic hepatitis C following perinatal infection via mother to child transmission (group 1: 5 cases) and blood transfusion (group 2: 9 cases). The mean age of patients at the time of first serological screening test was 9.1+/-4.7 years. In 12 cases, the screening test was performed in view of the mother seropositivity or a personal history of perinatal blood transfusion. Only two patients presented with hepatomegaly. ELISA3 test was positive in all patients. With RIBA3 test, antibody to hepatitis C core antigen was absent in one patient while antibody anti-NS3 was present in all of the cases. The mean level of serum transaminase SGPT was 1.9+/-0.9 N in group 1 patients (mother to child transmission) versus 1.4+/-0.7 N in group 2 patients (blood transfusion). In 9 cases out of 14, hepatocytolysis was variable with SGPT levels around 2 N. Total mean Knodell was 3+/-4.1 in the group 1 versus 4.6 + 2.6 in group 2. Using the Metavir score, the mean activity was found to be 0.5+/-0.1 in group 1 versus 1+/-0.6 in group 2, while the mean level of fibrosis in the two groups was 0.3+/-0.5 and 0.7+/-0.1 respectively. On the whole, this study shows that chronic hepatitis C following perinatal infection is commonly asymptomatic, with mild histological changes not relating to the level of hepatocytolysis.