Connect with

Tuesday 23 April 2024

Peer Reviewed

Gastroenterology clinic

What I do for a patient with hepatitis C

Ashley Miller

Recent articles on:
Hepatitis C

Part 5. Practical steps in your practice

Part 4. Ongoing care after hepatitis C treatment

Part 3. Curing hepatitis C in general practice

Part 2. Assessing your patient for antiviral treatment

Part 1. Finding your patients with hepatitis C

Recent articles on:
Liver diseases

Intestinal failure – improving long-term survival

Haemochromatosis – a clinician’s guide

Nonviral hepatitis: common causes and their management

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abnormal liver function test results in pregnancy – causes and management

Abstract

Hepatitis C is the most prevalent of the hepatic viral infections, affecting about 1.5% of Australians. This month, Dr Ashley Miller describes his approach to assessing and managing patients with this progressive liver disease.

Key Points

Remember

Chronic hepatitis C is a slowly progressive, fibrosing liver disease. It progresses to cirrhosis in approximately 25% of cases, although the process takes between 20 and 50 years.
The initial infection is usually inapparent. Approximately 85% of exposed people will fail to clear the virus and become chronically infected.
Hepatitis C should be considered as a possible cause of nonspecific symptoms or abnormal liver function tests, especially ALT.