title: Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus after blood transfusion in heart surgery.
abstract: We studied the frequency and time of appearance of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) retrospectively in the sera of 127 patients who underwent heart surgery between 1983 and 1986. They received blood from volunteer donors hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative with normal serum alanine-aminotransferase levels. A prospective follow-up was carried out every 15 days for at least 6 months from the moment of the transfusion. Of the ten patients who developed biochemical criteria of post-transfusional non-A non-B hepatitis, six seroconverted to anti-HCV (60%). Of the other 117, two were already positive before transfusion (1.51%), one patient showed antibodies only in the first post-transfusional serum (passive transfer), and another two patients with no evidence of post-transfusional hepatitis developed HCV antibodies on the 90th day, remaining indefinitely (afterwards seroconversion without hepatitis); both patients' earlier sera were anti-HCV negative. Four (40%) of the ten patients with post-transfusional hepatitis did not develop any serum markers to known hepatotropic agents. Although these findings do not exclude a viral infection by these viruses, they are consistent with the involvement of an unidentified non-A, non-B, non-C agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Alcalá de Henares University, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barcena
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martin-de-Argila
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ulibarrena
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graus
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Grande
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies