Hepatitis C virus infection in psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), compared with patients affected by non HCV-related rheumatic degenerative disorders.

Methods: One-hundred consecutive subjects with PsA, and a statistically comparable group of 100 consecutive patients with peripheral osteoarthritis (OA) or sciatica due to L4-L5 or L5-S1 herniated disc were tested for HCV infection with a third-generation microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA). Positive cases were submitted to a third-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) confirmatory test.