Anti‐HCV antibody in Chinese cirrhotic patients with or without hepatocellular carcinoma: Relation to multitransfusion

To investigate the positive rates of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV) in Chinese cirrhotic patients with or without hepatocellular carcinoma and to evaluate the influence of blood transfusion on the prevalence of anti‐HCV in such patients, a longitudinal study in 30 cirrhotic patients (17 combined with hepatocellular carcinoma) was carried out. Five patients (16.7%) were anti‐HCV positive before transfusion. The positive rate of anti‐HCV in HBsAg‐positive patients and HBsAg‐negative patients was 9.5% (2/21) and 33.3% (3/9), respectively. The positive rates in cirrhotic patients with or without hepatocellular carcinoma were 23.5% (4/17) and 7.7% (1/13), respectively. The positive rate of anti‐HCV increased significantly after multitransfusion, and the estimated infectivity of blood products was 6.1 patients per 1000 units of blood products. It was concluded that the aetiological role of hepatitis C virus on liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in the endemic area of hepatitis B virus is not so important as in Western countries, and transfusion might result in an overestimated pathogenic effect of hepatitis C virus in cirrhotic patients and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.