RHEUMATOLOGIC AND AUTOIMMUNE MANIFESTATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been associated with several autoimmune an d rheumatologic disorders, The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of these abnormalities in patients with chronic HCV, We stud ied 56 patients, 29 of whom (52%) had biochemical abnormalities that s uggested immunological disorders. Cryoglobulinemia was detected in nin e patients (22%), antinuclear antibodies in eleven (20%), rheumatoid f actor in seven (19.27%) and hypocomplementemia in fourteen (29.16%). T he most common clinical manifestations were: arthralgias (52%), myalgi as (16%), xerostomia (28.5%) and xerophthalmia (14%), These results in dicate the existence of a relationship between HCV and rheumatologic d isorders. We conclude that HCV may play a role in the pathogenesis of these autoimmune phenomena, but more studies are required to define th e extent of this role.