| dc.description.abstract | Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a worldwide burden whose
seroprevalence is higher in developing countries with Cameroon being the third most affected country in Africa. HCV both a hepatotropic and lympho-tropic infection is responsible for a great
number of hepatic and extra hepatic disorders some of which are rheumatic
in nature. These rheumatologic manifestations though extensively studied
in western countries; there is little or no data in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objective: The study was conducted with the aim to describe the musculo-
skeletal manifestations associated to HCV infection in a hospital setting in
Cameroon. Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: Three hospitals in Cameroon:
the Douala General Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital with a capacity of 320
beds in Douala, the largest city and economic capital of Cameroon; the University Teaching Hospital of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the university of Yaoundé 1, a 240 beds hospital in Yaoundé the political capital of Cameroon and the “Centre Médical de la Cathédrale”,a private acceptable standard Gastroenterology clinic also found in Yaoundé. Patients and methods: From February to June 2009, we did a multicentric cross-sectional study of patients from
the Gastroenterology, Rheumatology and Internal medicine outpatient clinics
of three hospitals in Cameroon. Patients with HIV or HBV infection and those on
antiviral treatment were excluded. Results: Among 148 patients with HCV
infection identifi ed during the study period, only 62 fulfi lled eligibility, 15
(24.2%) of whom had musculoskeletal manifestations related to HCV, the
commonest of which were myalgia 9/62 (14.5%) , arthritis 6/62 (9.7%), bone
pain 6.4% (4/62), sicca syndrome 3/62 (4.8%), and Raynaud’s phenomenon
6/62 (9.7%). Among patients with rheumatologic manifestations, 9/15
(60%), had rheumatologic symptoms at HCV diagnosis and in 6/15 (40%). HCV
infection was discovered during routine medical check-up. Musculoskeletal
manifestations were neither associated with the genotype (p=0.17) nor with the
viral load (p>0.98). Conclusion: Arthralgia is the most common presenting feature of the
symptomatic disease. Musculoskeletal manifestations may be confused with symptoms of common tropical infections, leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment of HCV infection | en_US |
