The role of transfusion-transmitted virus in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Goals: To study transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) infection in 75 patients on hemodialysis and examine its relationship with age, sex, duration of dialysis, history of transfusion, and chronic elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.

Study: Serum TTV was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), TTV genotypes by restriction fragment length polymorphism, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by PCR.

Results: Transfusion-transmitted virus was detected in 32 patients (42.