[Cryoglobulinemia related to the hepatitis B and C viruses].

Most cases of "essential" mixed cryoglobulinemia are due to chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Although cryoglobulinemia is a common finding in HCV-infected patients, it is rarely symptomatic. However, some patients develop diffuse vasculitis predominantly affecting small-caliber blood vessels, particularly those of the skin. Treatment with steroids, immunosuppressives, and more recently interferon alpha is effective in the short and medium term but fails to provide a permanent cure for the vasculitis. Cryoglobulinemia associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is less common. The HBV and HCV have closely similar epidemiological characteristics, and the few historical series of cryoglobulinemia with HBV infection reported in the literature do not allow to determine the role of coinfection with the HCV.