Cohort effect of HCV infection in liver cirrhosis assessed by a 25 year study

Background: The role of HCV infection in the development of chronic liver disease is still unclear. Objectives: Assess the presence of HCV infection in patients with liver cirrhosis. Study design: 123 cases of cirrhotic liver randomly selected over a 25 years period (1969–1994) from the autopsy archives of the Pathology Department of the University of Trieste, Italy, were analyzed for the presence of HCV viral genome. Methods: Total RNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of the cirrhotic liver. Genotype analysis for HCV was performed after RT-PCR by dot-blot hybridization with the three major genotype-specific probes (G1, G2 and G3). Results: The overall HCV genome frequency was 50.4% (62/123). The positivity was quite constant in the 1969–1979 period (35–38%), rose to 65% in 1984, peaked to 77% in 1989 ( P