Effect of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infections on Mortality in the Korean Dialysis Patients: a Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study

BackgroundThe role of HBV and HCV infections in survival among dialysis patients remains incompletely understood. This study investigated the prevalence of hepatitis B or C infection and its impact on survival in Korean patients on maintenance dialysis.MethodsThe study included 3,321 maintenance dialysis patients who underwent hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and HCV antibody (Ab) testing from a multicenter prospective cohort study in Korea. HBsAg-positive and HCV Ab-positive patients were matched to hepatitis virus-negative patients using propensity score by a ratio of one to two. We compared the survival of HBsAg and HCV Ab-positive patients to that of hepatitis virus-negative patients.ResultsA total of 221 (6.7%) HBsAg-positive and 108 (3.7%) HCV Ab-positive patients were enrolled and followed up for mean 23.5±13.3 months. Patients with dialysis vintage of ≥10 years showed a significantly higher prevalence of HBV and HCV than patients with dialysis vintage of