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fhea.com Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc., August 2015
Severe Liver Damage From Hepatitis C
More Common Than Thought
Among Americans with hepatitis C, severe liver dam-
age may be four times more common than previously
believed, a new study suggests. And researchers
learned that using a biopsy alone to uncover liver
cirrhosis is likely to seriously underestimate the
prevalence of severe liver damage.
Stuart Gordon, MD, director of hepatology at the
Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, led a study analyzing
9783 patients with hepatitis C who were cared for at
four large US healthcare systems. Their records sug-
gested that 29% of the patients had evidence of cir-
rhosis. The study found, however, that 62% of the pa-
tients had cirrhosis.
The researchers found a fourfold higher prevalence
of cirrhosis among patients than was shown by liver
biopsy alone. Dr. Gordon said one of the important
messages of the study was that relying on liver biopsy
alone to establish a diagnosis of cirrhosis greatly un-
derestimates the prevalence. "One has to be suspect
and try to search for that diagnosis any way you can,"
he said, and having multiple ways to assess the state of
the patient's liver is imperative.
The study was published in the August 2015 issue of
The American Journal of Gastroenterology .
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