Cutaneous Manifestations in Patients Positive for Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Antibodies

Abstract

Cutaneous diseases can indicate the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of this study was to analyse the frequency of cutaneous findings in HCV infection and HCV RNA positive cases in Turkey. Fifty consecutive patients positive for anti-HCV antibodies, negative controls, and patients positive and negative for HCV RNA were examined for any cutaneous findings that could be associated with HCV infection. The risk of infected patients developing cutaneous finding was higher than for non-infected individuals. Only pruritus showed a statistically significant difference in separate assessment of cutaneous symptoms. There were no differences in cutaneous findings in HCV RNA positive and negative cases. The risk of developing a dermatological finding, especially pruritus, was increased in HCV infection. However, because the number of patients in this study was too low to allow statistical evaluation of the prevalence of dermatological symptoms and diseases, multicentre studies including large numbers of patients are needed.