Hepatitis c virus infection in patients on maintenance dialysis

4/2/2017

Hepatitis C virus infection in patients on maintenance dialysis

Official reprint from UpToDate ®
www.uptodate.com ©2017 UpToDate ®

Hepatitis C virus infection in patients on maintenance dialysis
Authors
Svetlozar Natov, MD
Brian JG Pereira, MD

Section Editors
Steve J Schwab, MD
Martin S Hirsch, MD

Deputy Editor
Alice M Sheridan, MD

INTRODUCTION
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common and associated with significant morbidity and mortality among
dialysis patients.
M artin S Hirs ch, M D
Editor-in-Chief
Inf ectious
This topic reviews epidemiology of HCV infection among dialysis patients, including risk
factors for—and
Diseases
prevention of HCV transmission within dialysis units. The treatment of HCV infection among
patients
withInf ections

Section Editor
— Viral
Prof
essor
of
Medicine
reduced renal function, including those on dialysis, is discussed elsewhere. (See "Treatment of chronic
Harvard Medical School
hepatitis C infection in adults with renal impairment", section on 'Severe renal impairment or dialysis'.)

General issues related to HCV infection among transplant kidney donors and recipients and recurrent or de
novo HCV-related renal disease in transplant recipients are discussed elsewhere. (See "Hepatitis C virus
infection in kidney donors" and "Hepatitis C infection in kidney transplant candidates and recipients".)

EPIDEMIOLOGY
HCV infection is more common in dialysis patients than in healthy populations. The best data regarding
prevalence among dialysis patients were provided by Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study
(DOPPS), which was a prospective, observational study that reported the prevalence of HCV among adult
hemodialysis patients randomly selected from 308 representative dialysis facilities in France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States [1]. The overall prevalence was 13.5 percent
(compared with global prevalence in the general population of approximately 3 percent). (See "Epidemiology
and transmission of hepatitis C virus infection", section on 'Global distribution'.)
DOPPS reported a wide variation among countries, from 2.6 to 22.9 percent. From various studies, the
reported prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among dialysis patients in different countries is:

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Hepatitis C virus infection in patients on maintenance dialysis

Literature review current through: Jan 2017. | This topic last updated: thg 12 5, 2014.

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