HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION IN PATIENTS ON LONG TERM HEMODIALYSIS

Background: hepatitis c infection is frequently noticed in patients on hemodialysis. this study was conducted to estimate the frequency of hepatitis c virus infection in patients on long term hemodialysis and to determine its risk factors. material & methods: it was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted at sandeman provincial hospital, quetta from january 2006 to june 2007. patients on long-term hemodialysis in nephrology unit were studied. their medical records were reviewed for the presence of anti-hcv antibodies and any risk factors. results: ninety-seven patients on hemodialysis were included. out of these, 23 (23.7%) were found to be anti-hcv positive. the mean age of these patients was 55.2±15.5 years while for anti-hcv negative patients 54.9±15.1. there were 18(78.3%) males in the hcv positive group while 46(62.2%) males in hcv negative group. the mean duration of dialysis among hcv positive patients was 2.9±2.7 years while 1.51±0.86 years for hcv negative ones. anti-hcv positive group had significantly greater proportion of patients with dialysis for more than 2 years (43.5% vs 9.5%). no significant difference was found in other risk factors. when years of dialysis were treated as categorical variable, significant difference between anti-hcv positive and negative groups was found. the risk of getting hcv infection was significantly associated with increasing years of dialysis (p-value 0.002). conclusion: patients on hemodialysis has 23.7% positivity for anti-hcv in our setup and history of dialysis for more than two years is a significant risk factor for it