[Prevalence of hepatitis C in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease in the region of Nice and evaluation of risk factors].

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of viral hepatitis C markers and to determine independent risk factors in a population of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Methods: We studied 117 consecutive out-patients (male/female, 53/64; mean age 41 +/- 16 yrs) with ulcerative colitis (43 patients) or Crohn's disease (74 patients). Anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies were tested with a third generation Elisa test. The following risk factors were tested for each patient: duration of inflammatory bowel disease, number of colonoscopies, history of surgical procedures, blood transfusions, intravenous drug abuse and immunosuppressive treatments.
Results: The seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus was 5.98% (7/117). The only risk factor independently associated with serological markers for hepatitis C virus was blood transfusion (odds ratio: 7.77; confidence interval: 95% (1.63-49.09); P=0.012).
Conclusions: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection was high in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, mainly due to blood transfusions. Colonoscopies and surgical procedures were not found to be additional risk factors for infection with hepatitis C virus.