Assessment of hepatic fibrosis in pediatric cases with hepatitis C virus in Egypt.
OBJECTIVE
To assess hepatic fibrosis and factors associated with its progression in children with HCV infection.


METHODS
At the Hepatology Unit, Cairo University Children's Hospital, a single liver biopsy was performed to 43 children with HCV infection after an informed consent between 1998-2004. Their mean age at liver biopsy was 8.67 +/- 4.3 years.


RESULTS
Among the 43 patients' biopsies, 12 (27.9%) were having no fibrosis, 20 (46.5%) mild fibrosis and 11 (25.6%) moderate to severe fibrosis. The median time for development of fibrosis was estimated to be 5.5 years. Developing fibrosis was significantly associated with shorter duration from first detected ALT elevation to biopsy (12 mo vs 1.2 mo, P=0.015) and having higher levels of direct serum bilirubin (0.3 mg/dL vs 0.5 mg/dL, P=0.048). No association was found between fibrosis stage and the presence of co-morbid conditions (P=0.33).


CONCLUSIONS
Hepatic fibrosis was present in 72.1% of children with HCV infection. The development of fibrosis was associated with higher levels of direct serum bilirubin. There was no significant association between fibrosis and age, duration of infection, risk factors, co-morbid conditions and most biochemical parameters.
El-Hawary
Manal A
MA
Department of Pediatrics, Fayoum University, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. manalelhawary@yahoo.com
El-Raziky
Mona S
MS
Esmat
Gamal
G
Soliman
Hanan
H
Abouzied
Amr
A
El-Raziky
Maissa
M
El-Akel
Wafaa
W
El-Sayed
Rokaya
R
Shebl
Fatma
F
Shaheen
Abdel-Aziz
AA
El-Karaksy
Hanaa
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors
D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D001663:Bilirubin