Investigation of hepatitis C virus infection in chronic hemodialytic patients

Objective To investigate the hepatitis C infection in chronic hemodialytic (HD) patients and the change of aminotransferase.Methods One hundred and thirty seven HD patients were evaluated by using ELISA to detect serum anti HCV antibodies,RT PCR to detect serum HCVRNA,and at the same time detect alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase.Results Eight patients were only anti HCV positive,15 patients were only HCVRNA positive,24 patients were both anti HCV and HCVRNA positive,the total positive rate of HCV markers was 34.3%.Conclusion The prevalence of HCV infection in hemodialytic patients is serious,transaminases are not a sensitive marker for chronic hemodialytic patients.