Diagnostic challenges of hepatitis C

摘要

A healthy woman in her 50s without diabetes or obesity presented for an annual physical examination. Her primary care physician recommended hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing because she was born between 1945 and 1965, screening parameters based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The patient's hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV) result was positive. Additional tests performed to evaluate the extent of liver disease were unremarkable: alanine aminotransferase of 34 U/L (reference range, 7-35), aspartate aminotransfer-ase of 28 U/L (reference range, 8-30), total bilirubin of 0.4 mg/dL (reference range, 0.2-1.2), alkaline phosphatase of 95 IU/L (reference range, 30-130), and albumin of 4.0 g/dL (reference range, 30-130).