title: Hepatitis C virus infection is a risk factor for liver failure from veno-occlusive disease after bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: The contribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to liver disease after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was retrospectively evaluated in 61 patients treated with BMT. HCV genome, as well as antibodies to HCV, was analyzed in sera collected before and serially after BMT. Six patients had been infected with HCV before BMT and three patients acquired the infection during or shortly after BMT. All patients infected before BMT died within 10 weeks after transplantation. Five of these six patients (83%) died of veno-occlusive disease (VOD), compared with nine of 52 patients (17%) not infected with HCV (P < .005). Risk factors for VOD other than HCV were not more prevalent in these patients compared with uninfected patients. Parallel to the development of VOD, replication of HCV increased, as demonstrated by rising concentrations of viral RNA in serum. HCV infection acquired during or after BMT caused only mild acute hepatitis C, which progressed to chronic hepatitis C in one patient surviving 10 years after BMT. These data suggest that patients with liver disease caused by HCV infection are at high risk of developing lethal VOD after BMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine III, University of Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frickhofen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiesneth
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jainta
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hertenstein
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heymer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Dienes
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koerner
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bunjes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arnold
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006504:Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral