Worse quality of life in volunteer blood donors with hepatitis C.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) encompasses many different aspects of health perceived by the individual, and its alterations in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been recently reported. The objective was to study a population of volunteer blood donors at different stages of HCV liver disease.

Study Design And Methods: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), a generic tool, was used to evaluated HRQOL.

A new insight into the differences among non-cirrhotic and cirrhotic patients using the liver disease quality of life instrument (LDQOL).

Unlabelled: Our aims were to validate the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Liver Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire instrument (LDQOL1.0) and evaluate this tool in non-cirrhotic patients.

Methods: The LDQOL1.

Alcoholic intake predisposes to more interface hepatitis in chronic hepatitis C.

Progression of liver disease in chronic hepatitis C depends on several factors related to the host, virus and the environment which deserves further investigations. 120 candidates for blood donation with hepatitis C virus were divided into three groups according to alcohol intake: abstainers, light drinkers and heavy drinkers. Liver histopathology alterations, namely architectural staging, periportal and lobular inflammation as well as portal inflammatory infiltrate were graded from 0 to 4 and afterwards divided into light (0 to 2) and severe (3 to 4).

Bacterial infections associated with hepatic encephalopathy: prevalence and outcome.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a major sign of severe liver disease and the impact of associated bacterial infections should be better evaluated. A retrospective cohort of 333 patients with cirrhosis and HE was analyzed in three periods of time, from 1984 to 1998. Variance analysis, Wilcoxon, Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for statistical comparisons.