RESUMO
Objectives: Chronic hepatitis C [CHC] is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] worldwide. However, there is a lack of data regarding the epidemiology of CHC in Oman. This study aimed to describe the clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of CHC-infected patients at a tertiary care hospital in Oman
Methods: This retrospective descriptive hospital-based study included all CHC-infected patients who presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital [SQUH] in Muscat, Oman, between January 2010 and December 2015. The baseline demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data of the patients were analysed
Results: A total of 603 CHC-infected patients were identified during the study period; of these, 65.8% were male and the mean age was 44.8 +/- 16.5 years. The main risk factors associated with CHC infection were intravenous drug abuse [23.9%] and a history of blood transfusions [20.7%]. The most prevalent virus genotypes were 1 and 3 [44.0% and 35.1%, respectively]. Upon initial presentation, 33.0% of the cohort had liver cirrhosis; of these, 48.7% had decompensated cirrhosis and 23.1% had HCCs. Liver transplantation was only performed for 7.5% of the cirrhosis patients, mostly as a curative treatment for HCC
Conclusion: The implementation of national policies to prevent hepatitis C transmission and encourage the early screening of at-risk patients is recommended to reduce the burden and consequences of this disease in Oman