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Hepatitis C a risk factor for necrotizing fasciitis
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Hepatitis C viral infection is a risk factor for the development of necrotizing fasciitis, according to a 12-year retrospective study from a level 1 trauma center in Texas.
The authors reported that during a 12-year period in their trauma center, 10 patients (34%) of the 29 patients that presented with necrotizing fasciitis were found to also have an underlying diagnosis of hepatitis C viral infection.
Those patients with hepatitis C viral infection displayed a 30% mortality rate, compared to a mortality rate of 21% for those without a hepatitis C viral infection. The authors noted the proportion of patients who presented with both necrotizing fasciitis and hepatitis C viral infection was statistically greater than what would be expected when looking at the prevalence rate of hepatitis C viral infection in the general population (1.8%).
“Although our sample size was too small to show a statistical significance, we believe that a clinically significant increase in mortality of necrotizing fasciitis occurred in patients with concomitant hepatitis C viral infection,” the authors wrote. “Therefore, the presence of hepatitis C viral infection in patients presenting with symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis should raise the clinical suspicion for this diagnosis.”
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Scher D. Orthopedics. 2012. doi: 10.3928/01477447-20120327-43
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