Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 323 chronic hepatitis C patients / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze epidemiological and clinical characteristics of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Methods The clinical data of 323 CHC patients were collected. The transmission modes, clinical manifestations and virological features were recorded. The liver histological change was also analyzed in 39 cases whose liver biopsy samples were available. The comparison between two groups was performed by t test. Results Among the 323 CHC patients, 135 cases (41. 8%) had history of blood or blood products transfusion. Sixty-seven cases (20. 7%) had undergone surgery and trauma operation. Nineteen cases (5. 9%) had history of Chinese medicine acupuncture. Eighteen cases (5.6%) had undergone hemodialysis. Two patients (0.6%) were infected through vertical transmission. Twenty-one cases (6. 5%) had history of intravenous drug use and two cases (0. 6%) had history of unsafe sexual contact. The possible transmission routes for the other 78 cases (24.1%)were unknown. Fourteen patients (4. 3%) were co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The major prevalent genotypes were hepatitis C virus ( HCV) genotype lb and 2a, which were 145 cases (65. 3%) and 21 cases (9. 5%) respectively. HCV viral loads were as high as 1 × 105 IU/mL in 74 cases (26. 1%) and 1× 106 IU/mL in 103 cases (36. 4%). Twenty-three patients (7.1%) developed obvious clinical manifestations. Among 39 patients undergoing liver biopsy, 14 cases (35. 9%) had hepatic inflammation activity index (HAI)≥4, six cases (15. 4%) had fibrosis stage (F) ≥3, four cases (10. 3%) had HAI≥4 and F≥3. Conclusions The most common HCV transmission modes are blood transfusion and use of blood products. However, surgery and trauma operation should be paid more attention. Besides blood transfusion, the transmission modes of intravenous drug injection, hemodialysis and traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture are increasing. The major HCV genotypes are lb and 2a. The viral loads of most patients are relatively high. Most patients infected with HCV don't show any obvious hepatitis symptoms and physical signs. However, the liver biopsy results from 39 patients suggest that most patients develop liver histological changes.