Abstract

Background/Aims: Mixed cryoglobulinemia is frequently associated with liver diseases.The respective role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and liver damage in the pathogenesis of cryoglobulinemia is investigated in this study.Methods: The prevalence of cryoglobulinemia in 226 consecutive patients with chronic liver diseases (hepatitis C, 127; hepatitis 6, 40; other diseases, 59) was studied, and the epidemiological, biological, histological, and virological features in these three groups were analyzed.Anti-HCV antibodies, HCV proteins, and HCV RNA were searched in the cryoprecipitates.Re_ suits: The prevalence of mixed cryoglobulinemia was high (41.5%) in patients with liver diseases and higher in patients with hepatitis C (54.3%) than in patients . ...*I-L--.--*:*:-.m ,A rlv/\ A.# -&I..--__..