OUTCOME OF ACUTE SYMPTOMATIC NON-A, NON-B-HEPATITIS - A 13-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS MARKERS

Thirty-nine of 61 prospectively followed patients who had had acute no n-A, non-B hepatitis in 1978 were clinically reexamined in 1991 and te sted for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) with a second gene ration ELISA and RIBA and for HCV RNA by PCR. Acute hepatitis C was di agnosed in stored sera from 1978 in 24 patients, who were found still to be anti-HCV positive in 1991, and 16 of them were also HCV RNA posi tive. The majority of anti-HCV positive patients with or without HCV R NA had elevated serum ALT levels 13 years after onset of their acute h epatitis C. After 13 years follow-up, 1.6% of the patients had died of end-stage liver disease, 8% of anti-HCV positive patients had histolo gically confirmed liver cirrhosis, 79% of anti-HCV positive patients w ere judged to have chronic infection, whereas 21% seemed to have recov ered. To conclude, we found that a majority of our patients with acute symptomatic hepatitis C continued to be viraemic 13 years after onset of hepatitis C, and that all continued to be anti-HCV positive by sec ond-generation ELISA.