In a retrospective study of 225 anti-HCV positive cases of chronic hepatitis C in the years 1993-2003, 83 (37%) patients received blood transfusion prior to the year 1992, and 39 (17%) were i.v. drug addicts. The authors evaluated anamnestic data on viral hepatitides B and C, alcohol intake, blood transfusion, i.v. drug addiction, internal and surgical affections. Histological examination of the liver had been performed in 129 (57%) patients. Serology was carried out by 3rd generation ELISA methods, HCV RNA was detected by the polymerase chain reaction method. Resuits: Acute or chronic hepatitis C suffered only 8.4% of the patients, alcohol was consumed by 45%, the most frequent ailments were obesity, cholelithiasis, and hyperten-sion, and of surgical intervention it was gall bladder surgery, accidents, resection of the stomach and intes-tines. Drug addicts were significantly younger than subjects with blood transfusion (p < 0.001). Almost 40% of patients had clinically diagnosed liver cirrhosis. Cirrhotic patients had significantly higher mean activi-ties of AST than ALT, and lower thrombocyte counts (both p < 0.01) than patients without cirrhosis. HCV RNA was positive at least in 2/3 of the patients. Co-infection of HCV with hepatitis B virus was in 18.7% of whom 1/3 were drug addicts. Hepatocellular carcinoma was found in 9 patients (4%), all of them suffe-ring cirrhosis. Antiviral therapy was administered in 23% of the patients. Only one male healed spontane-ously following acute hepatitis C (0.44%). The resuits reveal that 90% of the patients were detected as chronic viral hepatitis C.

        Key words: chronic hepatitis C - diagnostics - complications