الفهرس 
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Abstract
More than 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is responsible for more than 100 000 cases of liver cancer per year, with similar numbers of digestive haemorrhage and ascites episodes. HCV is transmitted mainly through contact with blood and blood products, with blood transfusions, and sharing of non sterilised needles and syringes being the main causes of its spread. With the advent of routine blood screening for HCV antibodies (in 1991 in most countries), transfusion-related hepatitis C has almost disappeared. At present, intravenous drug use is the most common risk factor. However, many other patients acquire HCV without any known exposure to blood or intravenous drug use. Patients with high-risk sexual behaviour are at higher risk.
Hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis, digestive tract haemorrhage, liver failure, and liver cancer, and is the major cause of liver transplantation in Europe and the USA. Cumulative evidence strongly suggests that the increase in the number of deaths from hepatocellular carcinoma in most countries is because of hepatitis C infection.
Patients usually complain more about extrahepatic manifestations that impair quality of life (i.e. fatigue or myalgia) than about hepatic manifestations, which occur later in the decompensated cirrhotic stage.