RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and annual seroconversion of Hepatitis C (HCV) in private hemodialysis centers in Lima, correlating them with the transfusion history and permanence time in hemodialysis (HD), identifying, in addition, the hepatic damage and its repercussion in the waiting list for kidney transplants. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Transversal-type descriptive study taken from terminal chronic renal insufficiency (IRCT) carriers (128) who received HD treatment during December 2000. The hepatic biopsies of 20 HCV carriers were collected in the kidney pre-transplant evaluation. RESULTS: Anti-HCV antibodies were present in 76/128 (59%) of the patients. In 6/128 (4.5%) the infection was mixed with the Hepatitis B (HbsAg) virus. The annual seroconversion was 13% (6/48). The positive serology to the HCV was 56% in those who received from one to three transfusions, 66% in those who received from four to nine and 85% for those who received more than ten. The patients with positive serology averaged 54 months of permanence in HD vs. the seronegative patients with an average of 26 months. Thirteen of the twenty (65%) hepatic biopsies showed chronic lesions. From the histological lesions observed, the Persistent Chronic Hepatitis was the most frequent variety, followed by the Hepatic Cirrhosis and the Active Chronic Hepatitis. CONCLUSIONS: The HCV infection is elevated in the Hemodialysis Units of the country. A high percentage of patients excluded from kidney transplants for having necroinflammatory activity and/or hepatic fibrosis is deduced.
