Background: Some authors correlated hepatitis
C virus infection (HCV) with the development of
porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) considering
HCV infection further factor capable of triggering
clinical and laboratory manifestations of this
disease.
Alethods:Vevirtevi4patients with sporadic PCT
were investigated. By means of a second generation
EL1SA test, serum antibodies against HCV
was studied. HCV-RNA was determined by polymerase
chain reaction (PCR). Percutaneous ultrasound
guided liver biopsy was done to 10
PCT patients.
Results: The 76.47% of studied patients were
seropositive for HCV antibodies. PCR for HCVRNA
was reactive in the 64.70% out of the 17
studied cases. Liver enzymes were significantly
increased compared to that of controls. Liver
histology revealed minimal, mild, moderate and
severe hepatitis in 10%, 30%, 40% and in 20%
of the studied cases, respectively.
Conclusion: The frequent hepatitis C virus infection
in patients with sporadic PCT must be considered
as a precipitating factor for the disease
and as an aggravating factor for its associated
liver damage. |
