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. 1992 Sep;89(3):419–422. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1992.tb06973.x

Hepatitis C: a possible etiology for cryoglobulinaemia type II.

A Pechère-Bertschi 1, L Perrin 1, P de Saussure 1, J J Widmann 1, E Giostra 1, J A Schifferli 1
PMCID: PMC1554477  PMID: 1381302

Abstract

Out of 15 successive patients with mixed essential cryoglobulinaemia type II (monoclonal IgM kappa/IgG), 13 had serological evidence for hepatitis C infection as shown by specific enzyme immunoassays and immunoblot. RNA was purified from the serum of seven patients and hepatitis C sequences were identified in five following reverse transcription and DNA amplification. The liver histology showed chronic active hepatitis with or without cirrhosis in the 12 patients with hepatitis C who had a liver biopsy. The two patients without serological evidence of hepatitis C suffered from haematological malignancies. Hepatitis C may be a major etiological agent of cryoglobulinaemia type II.

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Selected References

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