Hepatitis C Infection Linked to Increased Risk of Heart Disease

Results from a new study demonstrate that chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and significantly increases cost of care and length of time in hospital. Based on these results, revealed today at The International Liver Congress 2015, study investigators conclude that chronic HCV infection should be considered a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases.

In the study, inpatient prevalence of diagnosed HCV infection was 1.9%. For these patients, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for acute myocardial infarction was 2.29 (CI: 2.22?2.36); for coronary artery disease: 1.88 (CI: 1.83?1.93); for cerebrovascular accident: 1.98 (CI: 1.93?2.04) and for congestive heart failure: 1.08 (CI: 1.06-1.10).

In this study, patients with HCV infections were characterized using the weighted 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data.

Source: EASL