Hepatitis C virus infection after renal transplantation: prevalence and course of morphologic lesions

THE issue of HCV-positive patients’ eligibility to renal transplantation is still debated. Many factors contribute to making this problem intriguing. First of all the high prevalence of HCV infection among hemodialysed patients, then the asymptomatic and not aggressive course of HCV infection in the dialysed population, and finally the evidence of a high incidence of liver dysfunction after renal transplantation in HCV-positive patients. All these aspects make it important to establish if renal transplantation is advisable for HCV-positive patients. As liver function tests proved unreliable in the assessment of the evolution of liver disease, studies evaluating the course of liver histology after renal transplantation are expected. The aim of this study was to establish, with sequential liver biopsies, the impact of immunosuppression on the course of liver histology in HCV-positive renal transplant patients.