Hepatitis C Management

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Question:

What is the standard of care when determining duration of time between liver biopsies in patients with chronic active hepatitis C, genotype 1a, in the evaluation of cellular degradation for purposes of staging and grading?

There is no standard of care when determining the interval between biopsies. This depends on the duration of disease, rate of progression, and results of previous biopsies. In the typical patient, it takes approximately 5 years to increase 1 stage of fibrosis. Most hepatologists consider every 5 years a reasonable time interval to assess progression of disease. Evidence of clinical progression, such as worsening synthetic function, may also prompt a biopsy to be performed.

For more information, see the section on liver biopsy in the Hepatitis C Management monograph.

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