The risk of subclinical carotidatherosclerosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C

BACKGROUND : the role of hepatitis C virus in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic disease has been suggested by several studies. We aimed to assess the association between subclinical carotid atherosclerosis and chronic hepatitis C . METHODS: 40 patients infected with chronic hepatitis C and 40 contol cases were evaluated by anthropometric and metabolic measurements .The risk of subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed by ultrasound measurement of carotid intima-media thickness . A high cardiovascular risk atherosclerosis was defined by carotid intima-media thickness > 75th percentile. RESULTS: The carotid intima-media thickness and the prevalence of high cardiovascular risk atherosclerosis were significantly higher in the group infected with hepatitis C compared to the control group (0.68 VS 0.60, p = 0.02) and ( 82.5% vs. 40%; 0.001) respectively. In multivariate studies, activity ≥ A2 and age> 40 years were the independent factors associated with the carotid intima-media thickness and hepatitis C was the only independent factor associated with high cardiovascular risk atherosclerosis (OR = 4.81 CI at 95%: 1.6-14.42). CONCLUSION: In our study , chronic hepatitic C was associated with a high risk of carotid atherosclerosis .