Chronic hepatitis C virus infection: prevalence of extrahepatic manifestations and association with cryoglobulinemia in Bulgarian patients.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of extrahepatic manifestations in Bulgarian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and identify the clinical and biological manifestations associated with cryoglobulinemia.

Methods: The medical records of 136 chronically infected HCV patients were reviewed to assess the prevalence of extrahepatic manifestations. Association between cryoglobulin-positivity and other manifestations were identified using chi2 and Fisher's exact test.

Molecular-cytogenetic aberrations in B-cell adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) - frequency and correlation with immunophenotype.

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) accounts for 20-30% of acute leukemias in adults. Combined application of data from immunophenotyping, karyotyping and molecular analyses allows a better understanding of this heterogeneous disease. We studied 30 adult patients with newly diagnosed B-ALL by conventional cytogenetics, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunophenotyping analyses.