how to differentiate acute and chronic hepatitis c - smily1

[ArchivalUser]

i m really confused so as to hw to distinguish bw acute and chronic heapatitis C

[ArchivalUser]

Acute hepatitis B OR C is resolved within 6 months. If it stays there for more than 6 months, it becomes Chronic Hep B OR C.

[ArchivalUser]

Points to NOTE for Hep C:

ACUTE INFECTION:
- Most patients are asymptomatic during the acute infection

- MAJORITY of the patients have detectable HCV RNA at 6 months and therefore have chronic hepatitis C...


CHRONIC HEP C:
- There is no correlation between ALT levels and liver histology

- Even though non- invasive tests can tell you about fibrosis and other stages of Chronic Hep c infection...you should always get Liver biopsy, which accurately determines the severity and activity of the disease....



TESTS:

1. In a patient with acute hepatitis, order the anti-HCV EIA first; if it is negative, order a qualitative HCV RNA, which is detectable before the antibody.

2. In a patient with chronic liver disease or an elevated ALT, order the anti-HCV EIA. Most of these results will be TRUE POSITIVE and so no need to get confirmatory test but if you really want to get a confirmatory test, then get a quantitative HCV RNA



IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT HEP C DIAGNOSITIC TESTS:

1. EIA is the main screening test. This can be negative in immunocompromised patients, organ donor, HIV, hemodialysis pts etc.

2. If the patient has high probabilty for the disease with negative EIA, then get a HCV RNA assay...

3. HCV RNA ( qualitative assay): used to confirm viremia, particularly in blood and organ donation screening

4. HCV RNA ( quantitative assay): used to monitor response to treatment

[ArchivalUser]

THANX CHAPPER,