Impact of hepatitis C infection on renal transplant patients: A single-center experience in Libya.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on graft and patient survival in a cohort of Libyan renal transplant recipients. Medical records of 241 renal transplant (RT) patients who have been followed-up at the Benghazi Nephrology Center up to February 2010 were reviewed. Based on the presence or absence of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA in the serum, patients were divided into two groups: HCV-positives and HCV-negatives. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique and HCV-RNA by the polymerase chain reaction. Of the 241 RT patients, 162 were male and 79 were female. One hundred and ten patients (45.6%) were HCV-positives and 131 (54.4%) were HCV-negatives. Acute graft rejection was significantly higher among HCV-negative than HCV-positive patients (42 patients versus 28 patients, respectively; P < 0.001). Conversely, chronic graft rejection was higher among HCV-positives than that among HCV-negative patients (35 patients versus 24 patients, respectively; P <0.05), and this difference became more significant after a 12-month period of transplantation (P <0.01). Seventeen patients died during the follow-up: Seven HCV-positives (6.3%) and 10 HCV-negatives (7.6%), and there was no significant difference in the death rate following RT between the two groups (P = 0.08). Among the seven deaths of HCV-positives, liver disease-related complications were the main cause of death in three (...
Source: Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl Source Type: research