Skin manifestations of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in Cairo, Egypt.

We assessed the dermatological manifestations associated with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and their association with liver status. Of 155 patients with chronic HCV infection in Cairo, Egypt, 71 (45.8%) had dermatological manifestations: pruritus without evident skin lesions (21.3%), pigmented purpuric eruption (5.2%), aphthous ulcer and lichen planus (3.9% each), leukocytoclastic vasculitis (2.6%), psoriasis (1.9%), tinea versicolor (1.3%) and other conditions (5.8%). Shrunken liver, splenomegaly and ascites were significantly associated with the presence of skin lesions (relative risk 8.0, 2.7 and 1.8 respectively), and shrunken liver was significantly associated with pruritus (relative risk 2.1). Sex was not associated with any of the skin lesions.