INCIDENCE OF POSTTRANSFUSION HEPATITIS BEFORE AND AFTER SCREENING FORHEPATITIS-C VIRUS-ANTIBODY

To evaluate the effectiveness of screening test for antibody to hepati tis C virus (anti-HCV), the incidence of acute post-transfusion HCV in fection in patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery and received blood transfusion was studied. All patients were followed prospectivel y with serum biochemistry tests and viral hepatitis markers before and periodically for at least 6 months after cardiovascular surgery. None of them had history of liver disease and none tested positive for ant i-HCV prior to blood transfusion. Before blood donors were screened fo r anti-HCV with a second-generation HCV diagnostic kit, 28 (12.4%) of 226 patients or 0.49% of 5,690 unit transfusion had seroconverted to a nti-HCV during a 6-month follow-up. The incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis (PTH) C in 91 patients who had received 1-12 units transfusi on was significantly lower than in 135 patients who had received more than 12 units transfusion (6.6 vs. 16.3%, p<0.05). However, none of th e 87 transfused patients, since anti-HCV screening in July 1992, devel oped PTH C (p<0.05). The result demonstrates that screening for anti-H CV by a more sensitive second-generation HCV diagnostic assay may prot ect the patients studied from PTH C. It further provides a firm argume nt for the necessity of a nation-wide blood donor screening.