Blood Tests for Fibrosis Diagnosis in Hep C...new study
TazKat said
Jun 11, 2013
i am stage fibrosis. not quite sure what all that means.. i will go back to doc in sept..
Dillo said
Jun 11, 2013
Thanks JoAnneh
I do like my Hepa doctor. He makes a lot more sense than others I have sometimes. I am lucky to go to a big clinic here around town that my MD is part of that has a lot of different Doctors associated with it. Makes my blood tests easier I found out today when my nephrologist called reminding me of some blood test I needed. I told her I was already going in for some for my Hepa and she confirmed on the computer that I didn't need to be poked twice as some of his and hers were the same.
A MRI might be nice but that too is off limits for me.... make all my little heart stents dance in ways they shouldn't Still glad though I went for them. I watched my mom through her heart surgery and my older brother still complains of the pain he has from his leg after his heart surgery and his ongoing complications and that was 15-20 years ago. He did finally find a Doctor willing to stent another place for him not long ago and sounds better. he swore he'd rather die that go through the surgery again. My cardio Doc here is like one of the the pros from Dover. No stent he won't try.
Hope your friend feels better. NC is cool. Remember hitching there in my teens to see a concert in Rockingham. Swam in a lake with the reddest-brown water tint from the soil below it. Cool
Glad your energy level is picking up.
Caryn said
Jun 11, 2013
I have had the fibrospect done twice now a year apart. The results were pretty much exactly the same. F2-F4. The first time I had it done, the doctor told me she thought I was between f2-f3, then my new doctor told me based on my first tests that the thought I was closer to f2 from looking at the number (59). Then I had it again, the number went down to 56 and my nurse called and said I was an f3. I emailed my doctor with concerns and he said I was stable and that he thought everything was the same. I don't think that anything is 100% accurate, but as Dillo said it got me in motion.
hrsetrdr said
Jun 11, 2013
My health care provider's view(at least in my case) was that the risks associated with the biopsy procedure[generally] outweighed the benefit of any information gained. A blood testing tool for fibrosis and cirrhosis would be a welcome addition to the gastroenterology department's assessment protocol.
Biggyb said
Jun 11, 2013
Yea i would much rather have blood test, i just don't like getting a giant needle shoved in my side and taking a hunk of liver out.
JoAnneh said
Jun 10, 2013
Dillo made an important statement from His doctor....Biopsy is only accurate for the section they remove. Until recently, I supported biopsy as most accurate test. I have had 2! A friend of mine has Hep C. She felt great But went to doctor due to weight gain to Check her thyroid. Blood work revealed her tumor markers were up. She had a sonogram AND a biopsy. Nothing showed up. Her gastro doctor said she could start treatment. Her NP felt something was up, And ordered an MRI and they discovered cancer.
chemo failed to work and she is off all medicine!!!
DollI, thank you for mentioning your docs remark About biopsy. My conclusion is MRI must be most accurate For finding HCC. Keep up the good fight for SVR! Going to visit our grandson in North Carolina this week. He is 16 months old. I have energy to play with him now I am 8 weeks post.
-- Edited by JoAnneh on Tuesday 11th of June 2013 11:37:54 AM
Dillo said
Jun 10, 2013
I did one called Fibraspec. Don't know if that's the one they mention in the article. I know the insurance pitched a fit about paying for it. I was F2-F4 which meant significant fibrosis. Doc said 94% accuracy. If they don't take your liver out and cut it open really how much do they know? He said a biopsy would only show what was happening where they did it and the rest is a semi guess anyway. I have heard mixed opinions of the accuracy.
Kinda like all new articles when it says
Blood Tests OK for Fibrosis Dx in Hep C
But the disclaimer at the bottom
Chou and Wasson noted several limitations to their analysis.
It was right for me...the test that made me get up off my behind and do the treatment now instead of make excuses for later.
-- Edited by Dillo on Monday 10th of June 2013 10:03:45 PM
Cinnamon Girl said
Jun 10, 2013
Blood testing can accurately identify clinically significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in people with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and may be an alternative to liver biopsy in some patients, a new study found.
The analysis of 172 studies comparing various blood tests to biopsy in HCV patients revealed that some of the simplest, cheapest blood tests performed as well as more expensive, complex tests, reported Roger Chou, MD, and Ngoc Wasson, MPH, from the Evidence-Based Practice Center at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
i am stage fibrosis. not quite sure what all that means.. i will go back to doc in sept..
Thanks JoAnneh
I do like my Hepa doctor. He makes a lot more sense than others I have sometimes. I am lucky to go to a big clinic here around town that my MD is part of that has a lot of different Doctors associated with it. Makes my blood tests easier I found out today when my nephrologist called reminding me of some blood test I needed. I told her I was already going in for some for my Hepa and she confirmed on the computer that I didn't need to be poked twice as some of his and hers were the same.
A MRI might be nice but that too is off limits for me.... make all my little heart stents dance in ways they shouldn't
Still glad though I went for them. I watched my mom through her heart surgery and my older brother still complains of the pain he has from his leg after his heart surgery and his ongoing complications and that was 15-20 years ago. He did finally find a Doctor willing to stent another place for him not long ago and sounds better. he swore he'd rather die that go through the surgery again. My cardio Doc here is like one of the the pros from Dover. No stent he won't try.
Hope your friend feels better. NC is cool. Remember hitching there in my teens to see a concert in Rockingham. Swam in a lake with the reddest-brown water tint from the soil below it. Cool
Glad your energy level is picking up.
I have had the fibrospect done twice now a year apart. The results were pretty much exactly the same. F2-F4. The first time I had it done, the doctor told me she thought I was between f2-f3, then my new doctor told me based on my first tests that the thought I was closer to f2 from looking at the number (59). Then I had it again, the number went down to 56 and my nurse called and said I was an f3. I emailed my doctor with concerns and he said I was stable and that he thought everything was the same. I don't think that anything is 100% accurate, but as Dillo said it got me in motion.
My health care provider's view(at least in my case) was that the risks associated with the biopsy procedure[generally] outweighed the benefit of any information gained. A blood testing tool for fibrosis and cirrhosis would be a welcome addition to the gastroenterology department's assessment protocol.
Yea i would much rather have blood test, i just don't like getting a giant needle shoved in my side and taking a hunk of liver out.
Dillo made an important statement from
His doctor....Biopsy is only accurate for the section they remove.
Until recently, I supported biopsy as most accurate test.
I have had 2!
A friend of mine has Hep C. She felt great
But went to doctor due to weight gain to
Check her thyroid. Blood work revealed her tumor markers were up.
She had a sonogram AND a biopsy.
Nothing showed up. Her gastro doctor said she could start treatment.
Her NP felt something was up, And ordered an MRI and they discovered cancer.
chemo failed to work and she is off all medicine!!!
DollI, thank you for mentioning your docs remark
About biopsy.
My conclusion is MRI must be most accurate
For finding HCC.
Keep up the good fight for SVR!
Going to visit our grandson in
North Carolina this week. He is 16 months old.
I have energy to play with him now I am
8 weeks post.
-- Edited by JoAnneh on Tuesday 11th of June 2013 11:37:54 AM
I did one called Fibraspec. Don't know if that's the one they mention in the article. I know the insurance pitched a fit about paying for it. I was F2-F4 which meant significant fibrosis. Doc said 94% accuracy. If they don't take your liver out and cut it open really how much do they know? He said a biopsy would only show what was happening where they did it and the rest is a semi guess anyway. I have heard mixed opinions of the accuracy.
Kinda like all new articles when it says
Blood Tests OK for Fibrosis Dx in Hep C
But the disclaimer at the bottom
Chou and Wasson noted several limitations to their analysis.
It was right for me...the test that made me get up off my behind and do the treatment now instead of make excuses for later.
-- Edited by Dillo on Monday 10th of June 2013 10:03:45 PM
Blood testing can accurately identify clinically significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in people with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and may be an alternative to liver biopsy in some patients, a new study found.
The analysis of 172 studies comparing various blood tests to biopsy in HCV patients revealed that some of the simplest, cheapest blood tests performed as well as more expensive, complex tests, reported Roger Chou, MD, and Ngoc Wasson, MPH, from the Evidence-Based Practice Center at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.