OCCULT HCV-INFECTION (LITERATURE REVIEW)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/2415-8798.2019.2.10140Keywords:
occult HCV - infection;, liver tissue;, peripheral blood mononuclear cells;, antiviral treatment;, sustained virological response;, polymerase chain reaction.Abstract
Occult HCV infection, a form of infection that is defined as the presence of RNA in hepatocytes with the presence of HCV RNA in serum or plasma, in the presence or in the absence of HCV antibodies using usual laboratory tests. Detection of RNA in mononuclear cells of peripheral blood and/or liver tissue, today, is considered the gold standard in the diagnosis of occult HCV infection.
This article provides an overview of currently available literature data on the prevalence, clinical characteristics, study of risk factors for occult HCV infection in patients with treatment experience who have achieved a sustained virological response. Presented studies that have learned the relationship of the occult form of HCV-infection with lymphoproliferative diseases and cryoglobulinenia. Practical recommendations are given regarding the search for an occult HCV infection as a possible cause of the progression of liver disease in certain groups of patients.
The aim of the study – to improve the diagnosis of cryptogenic hepatitis, by exclusion occult HCV infection, as a possible cause of liver damage.
Numerous literature data indicate the presence of the occult form of hepatitis C. The occult form of hepatitis C should be excluded as a possible cause of liver damage, especially in patients with disease progression: in patients with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus, in patients, who received antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C and achieved a sustained virological response, however, have clinical and/or laboratory signs of liver disease progression; in patients with cryptogenic liver disease, after excluding possible causes of both viral (HCV, HBV, EBV, CMV, etc.) and non-viral etiology. Research is needed for further long-term study of this form of the disease, since a number of authors deny the existence of an occult form of hepatitis C.
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