The presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was investigated in 20 agammaglobulinemic patients using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by specific anti-HCV antibodies detection. Fourteen patients suffered from common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), 5 patients from X-linked agammaglobulinemia and one from specific antibody-formation deficiency. All patients were treated by the replacement immunoglobulin therapy (6-30 years), in 19 of them also intravenous immunoglobulin was used. Although 2 patients suffered from chronic hepatic disease (chronic active hepatitis and granulomatous hepatitis of unknown origin), in none of the investigated patients any laboratory marker of HCV infection was proved. Although no HCV infection was observed in our group of patients, PCR for HCV-RNA should be performed in all patients previously treated by the intravenous immunoglobulin.

Keywords: Adult; Agammaglobulinemia /complications/; Common Variable Immunodeficiency /complications/; Female; Hepatitis C /complications/; Hepatitis C Antibodies /analysis/; Humans; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous /therapeutic use/; Male; Middle Aged; Polymerase Chain Reaction