Iron hepatic overload and hepatitis C D. Damian 1 , M. Grigorescu 1 , M.D. Grigorescu 1 , T. Zaharie 1 1 Third Medical Clinic, Cluj Napoca, Romania Aim: evaluation of the prevalence and the degree of iron loading and the relationships with the clinical, biological and morphological changes. Method: 212 patients with chronic hepatitis C were included, to whom we tested the blood iron level. In order to evaluate the hepatic iron accumulation we performed the Perls staining, using a qualitative analysis and a semiquantitative scoring system (Deugnier). Results: From a total of 212 patients, 16.5% presented increased blood iron level (p = 0.000). The evaluation of the liver iron loading was performed in 54 patients, some having normal blood iron level (n = 34) and others (n= 20) increased (p = 0.007). The stainable iron was observed in 27 patients. The iron loading was usually low, the deposits were observed mostly at the sinusoid cells and the hepatocyte and less in the portal spaces, usually as a pale staining or of small, nonmerging granules. The total iron score Deugnier was low. The increased blood iron correlated with the ALT and GGT levels, the necroinflamatory activity and fibrosis. No correlationships between stainable iron and increased blood iron. The presence of liver iron accumulation only correlated with the fibrosis degree. Conclusions: Of the 212 patients to whom we tested the blood iron, 16.5% had increased levels. The Perls staining was positive in 50% of the patients. The iron loading was mainly low, with a more frequent distribution in the sinusoid cells and in the hepatocytes and correlated only with the stage of fibrosis.