Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Cardiomyopathies

Abstract

The importance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been recently noted in patients with cardiomyopathies. HCV RNAs were found in the hearts of patients with cardiomyopathies, and negative strands of HCV RNA were also detected in the hearts, suggesting that HCV replicates in myocardial tissues. In a collaborative research project of the Committees for the Study of Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy, HCV antibody was more frequently found in patients with cardiomyopathies than that found in volunteer blood donors in Japan. HCV antibody was detected in 5.4% seeking care in 5 academic hospitals. Various cardiac abnormalities were found, and arrhythmias was the most frequent. These observations suggest that HCV infection is an important cause of a variety of otherwise unexplained heart diseases. It is likely that antiviral agents such as interferons and ribavirin will be valuable in the treatment of cardiomyopathy due to HCV infection.