HCV Causes More Than Just Liver Disease

From Hepatitis Alert, Vol. II No. 2 Summer 1996 (Published by the Hepatitis Foundation Intl.)

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an infectious agent which can cause more than liver disease. An article by Stuart C. Gordon, MD of William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan discusses these additional syndromes caused by HCV. The hepatitis C virus appears to act as a cause of immunity or of immune complex formation. The diseases clearly related are: mixed essential cryoglobulinemia, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, porphyria cutanea tarda, and thyroiditis. Diseases which are possibly related are: lichen planus, Mooren's corneal ulcers, Sjogren's syndrome, and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Many of the diseases respond to treatment with alpha interferon. He also discusses a number of diseases in which there is an unproven relationship in an article in Digestive Diseases (1996;14:157-168).

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