A 67-year-old woman with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and chronic hepatitis.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for the majority of cases of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Affected patients are usually asymptomatic when initially infected; however, between 70% and 80% will maintain infection and develop chronic liver disease. Of these patients, 20% to 50% progress to cirrhosis, and up to 15% may develop hepatocellular carcinoma. Thus, many patients have significant liver disease when diagnosed. The following case report describes a patient with cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis C, transferred to our institution to manage complications related to portal hypertension.