HEPATITIS-G VIRUS IN PATIENTS WITH CRYPTOGENIC LIVER-DISEASE UNDERGOING LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION

To examine the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) in end-stage live r disease of unknown cause and the role of HGV infection in posttransp lantation hepatitis, we studied 46 patients undergoing liver transplan tation (mean age, 50 years; M:F, 18:28) with cryptogenic cirrhosis. HG V RNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and was quantifi ed by a branched DNA (bDNA) assay, The prevalence of HGV RNA was deter mined in samples collected before and after liver transplantation and was found to be 22% and 67%, respectively, We evaluated the prevalence of posttransplantation hepatitis in 25 patients, 16 of whom were HGV- positive and 9 were HGV-negative. The proportion of patients with hepa titis was not significantly different in the two groups (38% in HGV-po sitive and 22% in HGV-negative patients). The median histological scor es were significantly higher in liver biopsies from patients with HGV infection than in those without HGV infection (2 [range, 0-14] and 1 [ range, 0-3]; P = .01), but the histological scores were low overall, T he duration of follow-up was similar in the two groups. HGV RNA levels were not correlated with the severity of liver disease based on histo logical score (r = -.08), Graft survival and patient survival were not significantly different, We concluded that liver disease was frequent (32%) after transplantation in patients with a pretransplantation dia gnosis of cryptogenic cirrhosis, although the disease was generally mi ld. Although HGV RNA was demonstrable in the majority (67%) of patient s after transplantation, there was no relationship between the presenc e of HGV RNA and the presence of posttransplantation liver disease, Th e finding of posttransplantation hepatitis in the absence of known vir uses (A-G), suggests that other, as-yet-unidentified viruses may be im portant.