Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with cardiomyopathy
Journal Title: Annals of Hepatology - Year 2009, Vol 8, Issue 2
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis C can be associated with extrahepatic manifestations; thus, we explored the association of this viral infection with dilated cardiomyopathy in a group of sixty-three patients with a cardiac ejection fraction of less than 40% determined by an echocardiogram in a prospective study. Two of the forty-one patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (4.8%) had serum antibodies to the hepatitis C virus and one of those had hepatitis C virus RNA (2.4%) in serum, consistent with chronic hepatitis C. One of the 22 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (4.5%) had serum antibodies to the hepatitis C virus but the hepatitis C virus RNA was not detected in their serum, consistent with prior infection but not chronic hepatitis C. In this study, chronic hepatitis C was not prevalent in the group of patients, although the only patient with chronic hepatitis C had non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. As a genetic predisposition to develop cardiomyopathy secondary to chronic hepatitis C has been suggested to be relevant in this type of complication, studies that include different racial and ethnic groups are warranted, as treatment of the hepatitis may lead to resolution of the cardiomyopathy.
Authors and Affiliations
Vijaya Boyella, Ikenna Onyebueke, Najabh Farraj, Suzette Graham-Hill, Cherif El Younis, Nora Bergasa
Diastolic dysfunction is associated with low urinary sodium excretion in patients with decompensated cirrhosis
Background/Aim. The pathogenesis and the clinical impact of diastolic dysfunction (DD) in cirrhosis remain unclear. Our aim wasto investigate the factors significantly associated with the presence of DD in patients with...
Hospital performance reports based on severity adjusted mortality rates in patients with cirrhosis depend on the method of risk adjustment
Background. Hospital outcome report cards are used to judge provider performance, including for liver transplantation. We aimed to determine the impact of the choice of risk adjustment method on hospital rankings based...
Contrast-induced acute kidney injury in cirrhotic patients. A retrospective analysis
Background. The nephrotoxic potential of intravenous iodinated contrast (IC) is controversial. Cirrhotic patients are often submitted to imaging procedures involving IC and small changes in renal function may have detrim...
Hepatic insulin resistance ties cholesterol gallstone formation and the metabolic syndrome
Biddinger SB, Haas JT, Yu BB, Bezy O, Jing E, Zhang W, Unterman TG, Carey MC, Kahn CR. Hepatic insulin resistance directly promotes formation of cholesterol gallstones. Nature Medicine 2008; 14: 778–782.Despite the well-...
Focal nodular hyperplasia vs. hemangioma:Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings
Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hemangioma are benign and generally asymptomatic hepatic tumors. With distinctive imaging findings on dynamic computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), differentia...