Anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence was investigated in 228 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs). Twenty-six of 228 (11.40%) patients with LPDs were positive for anti-HCV which was higher than the donor population ( P = 0.0007). Nine of 98 cases with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, five of 47 cases with multiple myeloma, seven of 36 cases with Hodgkin's disease, four of 38 cases with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and one of nine cases with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia had anti-HCV antibody. In all patients, odds ratio (OR) for anti-HCV was 24.09. This value was higher in patients less than 35 years as 62.04 for below 25 years and 32.00 for between 25–35 years. Our findings suggest that HCV infection might be a causative and/or contributing factor in lymphoproliferation. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an RNA virus in the Flaviviridae family. It displays lymphotropism in addition to hepatotropism and extrahepatic manifestations are very well known. There are many studies showing an association between HCV infection and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). In this study the evidence for HCV infection was studied in cases with NHL. To this end, anti-HCV antibody and HCV-RNA were screened in serum samples of cases with NHL using third-generation ELISA and RT-PCR. Anti-HCV antibody was studied in 223 patients and was found to be positive in 18 cases (8.1%). Anti-HCV antibody positivity was compared with our blood bank / blood donor population. There was an important increased risk of HCV infection-the common odds ratio was 34.56 and corrected odds ratio was 19.07. HCV-RNA was studied in 67 of 223 serum samples. HCV-RNA was found to be positive in 21 of 67 samples (31.3%). When compared with clinicodemographic parameters for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, including age, nodal status, and grade (in evaluable cases), except age in cases with or without HCV-RNA, we did not find an important correlation with HCV status and clinical findings (P = 0.155; 0.442; 0,558; 0.126, respectively). These results suggest that HCV infection may be an important risk factor for lymphomagenesis and HCV-RNA is more useful for the detection of HCV infection in these immunosuppressed cases. Simultaneous detection of anti-HCV and HCV-RNA will be more informative in this population. Am. J.

Kawasaki disease is the most common vasculitis of childhood. In its classical form, at least four of five diagnostic criteria including cervical lymphadenopathy (1.5 cm or more), nonsuppurative conjunctivitis, intraoral mucosal changes, edema in hands and feet, and maculopapular rash are required with prolonged fever over 5 days. Atypical cases which are different from the classical type or incomplete cases which does not include all the diagnostic criteria can be seen. The typical Kawasaki disease is a self-limiting disease with fever lasting for an average of two weeks. In such patients who have not been diagnosed and whose treatment has been delayed, coronary artery aneurysm, myocardial depression, arrhythmia, and vascular complications may increase morbidity and mortality. We would like to present a rare case of an atypical patient with gallbladder hydrops and acute cholestatic hepatitis.