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Liver damage in hepatitis C patients significantly underestimated, says Henry Ford study

I have not seen an article on this study posted here or on the BV board, but it confirms the need for treating HCV patients as early as possible.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/hfhs-ldi081815.php

The Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study is an analysis of records from a large, geographically and racially diverse group of 9,783 patients receiving care at four large U.S. health systems: Henry Ford Health System in Detroit; Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon; Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu and Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania.

The records analyzed by the researchers indicated evidence of liver damage, or cirrhosis, in 29% or 2,788 of the hepatitis C patients included in the study. But surprisingly, 1727 of those 2,788 patients, or 62% of those suffering from liver damage, had no formal documentation in their medical records that they had cirrhosis.

The results suggest cirrhosis may be underdiagnosed in a large segment of the population, he added. Clinicians typically rely on liver biopsies to diagnose cirrhosis. But in the hepatitis C patients studied, only 661 patients were diagnosed with cirrhosis through a liver biopsy.

"Our results suggest a fourfold higher prevalence of cirrhosis than is indicated by biopsy alone," says Gordon.