Reinfection of liver graft by hepatitis C virus after liver transplantation.

C Féray; D Samuel; V Thiers; M Gigou; F Pichon; A Bismuth; M Reynes; P Maisonneuve; H Bismuth; C Bréchot

doi:10.1172/JCI115723

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Féray, C. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Samuel, D. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Thiers, V. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Gigou, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Pichon, F. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Bismuth, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Reynes, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Maisonneuve, P. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Bismuth, H. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Find articles by Bréchot, C. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published in Volume 89, Issue 4 on April 1, 1992
J Clin Invest. 1992;89(4):1361–1365. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI115723.
© 1992 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published April 1, 1992 - Version history

We have investigated hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia before and after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). 38 patients were examined; 16 were anti-HCV positive and 22 anti-HCV negative pre-OLT in a RIBA-2 test (Ortho Diagnostic Systems Inc., Westwood, MA). HCV-RNA was detected using a modified nested polymerase chain reaction in 14/38 and 10/38 patients before and after OLT, respectively. 7 of these 14 subjects who were HCV-RNA positive before OLT were also positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen. After OLT, six patients became HCV-RNA positive, likely as a result of transfusions, while four developed a probable recurrence of HCV infection. Infection of the liver graft by the same strain of HCV was indeed demonstrated by sequence analysis of a hypervariable domain (in the envelope region) in two cases. This establishes the possibility of HCV recurrence and shows the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction as the only assay currently capable of identifying HCV infection after OLT.

Images.