Abstract

Introduction: Viral hepatitis C (HCV), primarily a liver disease, also has many extrahepatic manifestations (EHM). The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of clinical EHM in patients with anti-HCV antibodies and the factors associated with them.
Method: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. It was conducted between August 2019 and January 2020 at the University Hepatology and Gastroenterology Clinic (CUHGE) of the CNHU-HKM in Cotonou and the medical department of the CHUD-B/A in Parakou. Patients who were seen during this period and who were HCV antibody positive were included. Data collection was prospective.
Results: A total of 135 patients were included, 121 at the CNHU-HKM and 14 at the CHUD-B/A. The sex ratio was 0.7 and the mean age was 57 ± 15.8 years (ranging from 12 to 86 years).
The most common clinical HEHMs were: asthenia (32.6%); arthralgia (23.7%), type 2 diabetes (15.6%), pruritus (11.1%), myalgia (5.9%), peripheral neuropathy (2.2%), decreased visual acuity (2.2%), and glaucoma (2.2%).
There was a statistically significant association between clinical HEHMs and: age over 50 years (p=0.001); elevated AST (p<0.001) and ALT (p=0.001) aminotransferase levels, viral load, and isolated asthenia (p=0.042). There was no statistically significant link between MEH and gender, although there was a predominance of female patients.
Conclusion: Clinical MEHM associated with HCV is common. Their impact on patients’ quality of life therefore warrants consideration. Such manifestations should therefore be seen as opportunities to offer hepatitis C virus screening and assess quality of life in seropositive patients.

Keywords

viral hepatitis C, clinical extrahepatic manifestations, associated factors