Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among Saudi patients with chronic liver diseases.

The prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was determined in 55 patients with chronic liver diseases including liver cirrhosis (42 patients), liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (8 patients), and chronic active hepatitis (4 patients). A total of 63.6% of these patients were positive for anti-HCV, a significantly higher prevalence than the rate of 3.9% observed in 488 asymptomatic volunteers. Of the 42 patients with liver cirrhosis 16 (38.1%) had positive anti-HCV without any markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), while 12 (28.6%) had markers of neither HCV nor HBV infection. Our findings suggest that HCV infection may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease in Saudi Arabia, which is an area of endemic HBV infection. Screening for anti HCV should be considered mandatory in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) especially where the etiology appears obscure.