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Is Hepatitis C Virus Involved in Hepatitis-Associated Aplastic Anemia?
- Pol Stanislas, MD;
- Françoise Driss, MD;
- Agnès Devergie, MD;
- Christian Brechot, MD, PhD;
- Pierre Berthelot, MD; and
- Eliane Gluckman, MD
Abstract
Objective: To determine whether hepatitis C virus is involved in hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia.
Design: Retrospective analysis.
Setting: Bone marrow transplantation unit.
Patients: One hundred and eighteen patients with severe aplastic anemia, including 19 with hepatitis-associated aplasia, 61 with aplastic anemia of undetermined cause, and 38 with aplastic anemia related to an inherited syndrome or an acquired etiology.
Measurements and Main Results: There was no statistically significant difference in antihepatitis C virus antibodies between hepatitis-related aplastic anemia (15.8%; 95% CI, 4% to 36%) and aplasia of unknown (9.8%; CI, 5% to 22%) or known (7.9%; CI, 2% to 22%) cause. The antihepatitis C virus levels did not differ according to the cause of aplastic anemia. There was no relation between hepatitis C and hepatitis B virus serologies, regardless of cause.
Conclusions: Hepatitis C virus is not a frequent cause of non-A, non-B hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia. Either a non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis virus is involved in non-A, non-B hepatitis-related aplasia or hepatitis C virus prevalence is underestimated in patients with hepatitis-related aplasia, possibly as a result of immunologic defects.
Article and Author Information
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From Hôpital Laënnec and Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France. For current author addresses, see end of text.
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Grant Support: Dr. Pol was supported by the Fonds d'Etudes et de Recherche du Corps Médical des Hôpitaux de Paris.
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Requests for Reprints: Stanislas Pol, MD, Unité d'Hépatologie, Hôpital Laënnec, 42 Rue de Sèvres, 75340 Paris Cedex 07, France.
- © 1990 American College of Physicians
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