Hepatitis C virus core antigen for screening organ donors and recipients

Abstract Organ donors and recipients are routinely screened for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, typically via anti-HCV detection. We analyze the utility of an alternative HCV core antigen (HCV-Ag) quantification system, the ARCHITECT HCV Ag Assay, in this setting. We simultaneously tested 315 samples from potential organ donors and recipients using two chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassays: ARCHITECT Anti-HCV and HCV Ag (Abbott, Germany). HCV-Ag was detected in 81 of the serum samples (25.71%) and anti-HCV in 87 (27.62%). Seventy-five of the HCV-Ag–positive samples were positive for anti-HCV (92.59%). Overall concordance between the two assays was 94.29%. Of the six HCV-Ag–positive/anti-HCV–negative patients, five had HCV-Ag values