Hepatitis C Virus Core Antigen Test in Monitoring of Dialysis Patients

[摘要] Hepatitis C virus infection is a persistent worldwide public health concern. The prevalence of HCV infection is much higher in patients on chronic haemodialysis (HD) than in the general population. HCV infection can detrimentally affect patients throughout the spectrum of chronic kidney disease. Despite the control of blood products, hepatitis C virustransmission is still being observed among patients undergoing dialysis. Detection systems for serum HCV antibodies are insensitive in the acute phase because of the long serological window. Direct detection of HCV depends on PCR test but this test is not suitable for routine screening. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of HCV core antigen detection as an alternative to PCR. Few studies exist about the efficacy of HCV core antigen test in dialysis population. We studied the utility of HCV core antigen test in routine monitoring ofvirological status of dialysis patients. We screened 92 patients on long-term dialysis both byPCR HCV-RNA and HCV core antigen test. The sensitivity of HCVcAg test was 90%, the specificity100%, the positive predictive power 100%, the negative predictive power97%, and the accuracy97%. We think serological detection of HCV core antigenmay be an alternative to NAT techniques for routine monitoring of patients on chronic dialysis.

[学科分类] 传染病学