Hepatitis C virus infection and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Serum antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) were tested for inpatients undergoing allogeneic BMT to determine the risk of acquiring HCV infection and the role of HCV in posttransplant liver complications. The HCV seroconversion rate was evaluated according to the date of BMT and blood donor screening at the time. Anti-HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) were detected with a second-generation ELISA and confirmed with a second-generation radioimmunoblot assay. All patients received leukocyte-depleted blood products and most received apheresis platelet concentrates. One hundred twenty of 181 consecutive patients transplanted from January 1987 to December 1991 were anti-HCV-negative before BMT, had at least 6 months of follow-up, and were thus evaluated for the seroconversion rate. Before screening for non-A, non-B hepatitis, 14% of the patients seroconverted to HCV (0.44% per unit transfused). After introduction of screening for alanine aminotransferase and antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen the risk of seroconversion was 4% per patient (0.26% per unit). When, in addition, blood was screened for anti-HCV the risk fell to 1.6% (0.03% per unit). Positive anti-HCV status before and after BMT was not predictive of veno-occlusive disease, liver graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), or death due to liver dysfunction. In contrast, the risk of chronic hepatitis was significantly increased.