Abstract: Objective To explore the liver histopathological characteristics of recurrent hepatitis C in patients with liver transplantation. Methods 54 liver biopsies were obtained from 28 patients who were diagnosed as recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation. Results The main liver pathological features of recurrent hepatitis C in patients with liver transplantation included liver cell degeneration and necrosis,lymphocyte and other inflammatory cell aggregation in the portal area,and early occurrence of fibrosis;Besides,liver histopathological features of rejection reaction and drug-induced liver injury were also present in some cases;Liver fibrosis of recurrent hepatitis C in late periods（>12 months） after liver transplantation was significant severe than in patients with recurrent hepatitis C at early periods（the liver staging score were （1.82±1.12） and （1.13±1.08）,respectively,P<0.05）;No significant differences in pathological manifestations among different viral genotypes of HCV infection were found;Histological activity index in patients with rejection reaction and drug-induced liver injuries were（2.32±0.64）and（2.33±0.88）,respectively,much higher than that in cases without rejection reaction or drug-induced liver injuries（1.64±0.59）,（P<0.05）. Conclusion Hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation has characteristic changes in liver pathology,and liver pathological examination in time might help evaluating the liver injuries of hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation.

Key words: Liver transplantation, Hepatitis C, Recurrence, Liver pathology