relation between liver iron overload and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with viral C cirrhosis

ABSTRACT

Fifty patients with histologically proven cirrhosis and positive antibodies for CV were included in this study and classified into two groups The first group consisted of 18 patients with HCC on top of cirrhosis and the second one included 32 cirrhotic patients [HCC free] as controls. Hepatic iron was evaluated using a semiquantitative method in liver biopsies from all patients. Iron deposits were assessed using three different scores [hepatocytic iron score [0- 36], sinusoidal iron score [0-12] and portal iron score [0-12]]. The total iron score [0-60] was defined by the sum of these three scores