Hepatitis C virus associated glomerulopathy in Egyptian children

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection causes both acute and chronic liver disease and is also associated with renal disease in adults. Whether HCV is associated with renal disease in children, as hepatitis B virus is not known. The study described the clinical and virologic features of 46 children with nephrotic syndrome who were followed up in the Pediatric Vapour Nephrology Clinic, Ain-Shams University. Most of the patients had normal kidney and liver functions. Anti-HCV was detected in 6 patients and it was negative in all children in the control group. Patients with anti-HCV were furtherly studied for HCV-RNA, C3 and cryoglobulins. Two patients had HCV-RNA detected in their serum, 2 had hypocomplementemia and cryoglobulins were not detected in all the patients. It is concluded that HCV infection is more common in Egyptian nephrotic children in comparison to healthy children. The exact role of this infection in the etiology or perpetuation of the renal disease is not known. HCV associated glomerulopathy differ in prognosis and management from primary glomerulopathy