HCV RNA

[frazhmd]

my Wife age is 37years old
her ALT is 176 & AST is 117.
ESR: 164
PCR: Defective
please advise me what i do?

[pooh55811]

her ALT is 176 & AST is 117.
ESR: 164
PCR: Defective
please advise me what i do?
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Just to add to what ActingBrandNew posted .....

It is not clear why your wife's blood tests are as elevated as they are. The ALT and AST may be related to her positive Hepatitis C status. The ESR may be related to some other medical problem. The ESR is a nonspecific marker of inflammation although it can be elevated in some other specific medical conditions as well.

If it was me, I would find a Hepatologist to manage her care. She needs further testing and she needs to have her care managed by a liver specialist.

Hepatitis C is treatable and it is curable, but she needs a good doctor to manage that care.

Best of luck. Let us know how your wife does. Please come back to the forum and ask questions when you have them. The forum is a good place for information and for emotional support.

[ActingBrandNew]

I'm assuming you meant PCR: Detected instead of PCR: Defected...if this is correct then it sounds like your wife had the qualatative (qual) PCR test. This test will answer a yes/no question - is there detectible HCV in the sample.

Your wife's doctor will now likely order the quantative (quant) test that will tell  you her viral load (how many copies of HCV RNA per ml of blood).  He will also order a HCV genotype test which will determine what treatment protocol to go with. Your wife will also need a liver biopsy to see if there is any damage.

If your wife's doctor isn't ordering these tests...Id suggest finding a doctor that will. Your wife is 37 and statistically those under 40 respond to treatment better.

Age
Age is a contributing factor to treatment outcome. Generally, people under 40 years old respond better to current HCV treatments than people over 40 years old. This is due to a response rates in everyone infected with HCV–including African Americans and Hispanics.

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/predictors.pdf