title: A neuropsychological study comparing patients infected with HCV and HBV without psychiatric comorbidities.
abstract: Hepatitis C is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases worldwide, with well-documented extra-hepatic manifestations, such as a broad number of cognitive deficits. These impairments may be explained by psychiatric comorbidities, which have not been investigated properly in the literature. In order to elucidate a specific hepatitis C virus (HCV) induced cognitive impairment not related to mental disorders, neuropsychological performance of patients infected with HCV was compared with that of patients infected with hepatitis B virus cognitive impairment, especially psychiatric comorbidities. A total of 33 patients infected with HCV and 22 patients infected with HBV were included in the study. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to age or years of education. The group of patients infected with HCV performed significantly worse on visuo-spatial memory tasks after adjusting for years of education and age. There were no significant differences between patients infected with HCV and patients infected with HBV with regards to other neuropsychological functions. The data indicate that patients infected with HCV patients have poorer visuo-spatial memory performance than patients infected with HBV, suggesting that the cognitive deficit may be specific to HCV infection and not to secondary comorbid psychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil. lcq@ufba.br
authors.forename: Lucas C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Quarantini
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miranda-Scippa
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Batista-Neves
authors.forename: Vania B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Neander
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.forename: Katiusha C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.forename: Jacquelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crane
authors.forename: Aline S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Sampaio
authors.forename: Liana R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Netto
authors.forename: Irismar R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Deoliveira
authors.forename: Raymundo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paraná
authors.forename: Rodrigo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bressan
authors.forename: Acioly L T
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lacerda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult