الفهرس 
Chapter 1: IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Hepatitis C virus is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus
(HCV). HCV infection can cause acute hepatitis C; following acute infection, 50–
80% of patients develop chronic hepatitis C. chronic HCV infection triggers a
chronic inflammatory disease process, which might lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis,
hepatocellular carcinoma and death.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a hepatotropic RNA virus that causes progressive
liver damage, which might result in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Globally, between 64 and 103 million people are chronically infected. Major risk
factors for this blood-borne virus infection are unsafe injection drug use and
unsterile medical procedures (iatrogenic infections) in countries with high HCV
prevalence.
Hepatitis C virus primarily affects the liver causing hepatitis; chronic hepatitis
may progress to liver fibrosis and subsequently cirrhosis and hepatocellular
carcinoma, which are the major burden of disease in people living with chronic
hepatitis C. However, there are also extra-hepatic manifestations of HCV which
include glomerulonephritis, thyroiditis, insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus,
porphyria cutanea tarda, lichen planus, vitiligo, seronegative arthritis,
cryoglobulinemia and lymphoproliferative disorders. It has been reported that
approximately 40% of the HCV infected patients have at least one extra-hepatic
manifestation.
Hepatitis C virus HCV infection carries a risk for chronic kidney disease
(CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD). Similarly, in CKD patients, HCV
infection increases the risk of developing ESRD with an estimated 5-year
cumulative incidence rate of 52.6% compared to 38.4% in those without HCV
infection.