The association of hepatitis C virus infection with the prognosis of chronic hemodialysis patients: A retrospective study of 3,064 patients between 1999 and 2010

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is high among patients receiving chronic hemodialysis. To clarify the risk ratio of HCV infection with respect to mortality and prognosis in chronic hemodialysis patients, a retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted in 2010 and involved 3,064 patients receiving chronic hemodialysis at nine dialysis facilities in Hiroshima, Japan, who were recruited from 1999 to 2003. Logistic regression and Cox hazards models were used to estimate the mortality risk among hemodialysis patients. Among the patients, 422 (14.0%) were positive for HCV RNA. HCV RNA positivity was associated with death in the logistic model (adjusted odds ratio=1.79; P<0.001). However, it was not a risk factor for the reduced of survival rate in the Cox proportional hazard model (adjusted risk ratio=1.07; P=0.4138). In summary, among hemodialysis patients, HCV RNA is correlated with the mortality rate; however, it is not significantly correlated with prognosis in terms of survival time. On the other hand, diabetes and age at dialysis onset are significantly correlated with survival. Diabetes control treatment should be preferentially selected for hemodialysis patients, and antiviral therapy for HCV should be introduced based on the clinical state of the patient. J. Med. Virol. 87:1558-1564, 2015. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.