• Umbreen Amjad, Saqib Qayyum Ahmad, Saima Mir, and Moazam Ayub.
• Dr. Umbreen Amjad, MBBS. Department of Pathology, Bahria International Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2020 Jan 1; 36 (2): 286289286-289.

ObjectivesTo determine the frequency of anti-HCV in patients on maintenance haemodialysis (HD) and its association with history of blood transfusion and with the practice of HD from more than one center.MethodsAll the patients on maintenance HD at Bahria International hospital (BIH) Rawalpindi from March 2019 to May 2019 were included. Demographic details, history of blood transfusions and history of HD from any other center in addition to BIH, were recorded. Anti-HCV was done by chemiluminescent assay. Chi-square was used to compare the categorical variables. Odds ratio (OR) and relative risk (RR) for the groups exposed to risk were calculated.ResultsOf 96 patients, 40 (41.6%) were anti-HCV positive. Sixty-two (64.6%) had transfusion history. Thirty-one (50%) of these 62 were anti-HCV positive as compared to 9 (26.5%) of 34 with no history of transfusion (p=0.025); OR=2.78 (p=0.0278), RR=1.89 (p=0.0420). Among 66(68.7%) of 96 who had HD from other centres in addition to ours, 33(50%) were anti-HCV positive as compared to 7(23.3%) of 23 who had HD from BIH only (p=0.014); OR=3.29 (p=0.0167), RR=2.14 (p=0.0309).ConclusionThere was a high prevalence (41.6%) of anti-HCV in our HD patients and anti-HCV positivity had significant association with history of blood transfusion as well as with history of HD from multiple centres.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

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