Aa
My Lab Results.
Hi, I have Hep-c, 4yrs now and had my blood drawn. well heres my results Platelet Count-312 thou/mcl, RDW-13.9% ,WBC Count 6.4 thou/mcl, Red cell count-4.68m/mcl- Hemoglobin13.6gm/dl, Hematocrit- 40.9%,- MCV-87.FL- MCHC-33.1%- sed-rate rbc-15mm/hr. okay what does this all mean? my doctor set a appt with the GI doc, Please someone explain, i am new here so thanks so much for reading this.teresa.
Hi.
"they said that i had the fibrosis and that is all". Fibrosis is a large area. It depends on the degree of fibrosis as to how far your liver disease has progressed. Add another six years when you were in your early forties. You liver wouldn't usually advance more than one Stage. Unless it has been damaged by other factors beside HCV. So you are probably either Stage 2 or 3. It is important to treat before reaching cirrhosis as your odds of clearing the virus go way down should you develop cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
You say you are taking "a lot" of pain meds. These are metabolized by your liver. How dangerous are they? I would look on the package insert for each drug. They definitely are putting stress on your liver and could progress your liver's damage more quickly than usual. Again depending on how healthy your liver is.
If I were you, I would get a liver biopsy to see where you are as far as liver damage. Stage" "Grade". You don't want to find out you have cirrhosis because you waited too long. As I said you would want to treatment before Stage 4. Once you can't treat any longer, the only current option is a liver transplant.
The following is from...
http://janis7hepc.com/learning_about_liver_fibrosis2.htm#Fibrosis%20and%20Cirrhosis
“Stage” is the amount of fibrosis (scaring) detectable by biopsy…from stage one (mild) to four (cirrhosis). “Grade” is the amount of inflammation, which is caused by the activity of the virus. Generally speaking, inflammation is the precursor to fibrosis.
Progression
In general it takes many years before someone develops the severe type of fibrosis that leads to cirrhosis. The worsening of the fibrosis does not happen at the same rate for everybody. We do not know why some people develop more or less severe scarring of the
liver. But we know that there are certain factors that can increase the progression of fibrosis. We also know that fibrosis does not develop at the same rate over years. The
rate of progression speeds up as damage occurs. For example it may take some people 10 years to form light scarring, but more severe scarring can occur within a shorter period of time.
There are many factors that speed up the development of the scarring in people with hepatitis C including:
• Drinking large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time
• People who are over 50 years old
• Gender – men seem to progress at a faster rate than women
• Fat in liver cells or fatty liver (called steatosis)
• People who also have HIV (called HIV/HCV coinfection)
• People who have immune systems that are not functioning well
"The Assessment of Fibrosis"
Normally, a liver biopsy is performed to accurately assess the progression of fibrosis in liver disease. The following terms are often used to describe the changes in liver tissue associated with HCV infection:
Portal Inflammation: the portal areas are tiny tracts of connective tissue within the liver that contain branches of the portal vein, the hepatic artery and bile ducts.
Piecemeal Necrosis: this term describes necrosis (cellular death) and inflammation around the portal areas.
Fibrosis: the deposition of collagen fibers in the cell structure of the liver, forming scar tissue. The early stages of fibrosis are confined to the portal tracts.
Bridging Fibrosis: an intermediate stage of fibrosis are characterized by expansion of collagenous (scar) tissue to the portal tracts and bridging between portal areas.
Cirrhosis: a term used to describe significant deformation of the liver structure due to scarring.
Best of luck!
Hector
"they said that i had the fibrosis and that is all". Fibrosis is a large area. It depends on the degree of fibrosis as to how far your liver disease has progressed. Add another six years when you were in your early forties. You liver wouldn't usually advance more than one Stage. Unless it has been damaged by other factors beside HCV. So you are probably either Stage 2 or 3. It is important to treat before reaching cirrhosis as your odds of clearing the virus go way down should you develop cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
You say you are taking "a lot" of pain meds. These are metabolized by your liver. How dangerous are they? I would look on the package insert for each drug. They definitely are putting stress on your liver and could progress your liver's damage more quickly than usual. Again depending on how healthy your liver is.
If I were you, I would get a liver biopsy to see where you are as far as liver damage. Stage" "Grade". You don't want to find out you have cirrhosis because you waited too long. As I said you would want to treatment before Stage 4. Once you can't treat any longer, the only current option is a liver transplant.
The following is from...
http://janis7hepc.com/learning_about_liver_fibrosis2.htm#Fibrosis%20and%20Cirrhosis
“Stage” is the amount of fibrosis (scaring) detectable by biopsy…from stage one (mild) to four (cirrhosis). “Grade” is the amount of inflammation, which is caused by the activity of the virus. Generally speaking, inflammation is the precursor to fibrosis.
Progression
In general it takes many years before someone develops the severe type of fibrosis that leads to cirrhosis. The worsening of the fibrosis does not happen at the same rate for everybody. We do not know why some people develop more or less severe scarring of the
liver. But we know that there are certain factors that can increase the progression of fibrosis. We also know that fibrosis does not develop at the same rate over years. The
rate of progression speeds up as damage occurs. For example it may take some people 10 years to form light scarring, but more severe scarring can occur within a shorter period of time.
There are many factors that speed up the development of the scarring in people with hepatitis C including:
• Drinking large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time
• People who are over 50 years old
• Gender – men seem to progress at a faster rate than women
• Fat in liver cells or fatty liver (called steatosis)
• People who also have HIV (called HIV/HCV coinfection)
• People who have immune systems that are not functioning well
"The Assessment of Fibrosis"
Normally, a liver biopsy is performed to accurately assess the progression of fibrosis in liver disease. The following terms are often used to describe the changes in liver tissue associated with HCV infection:
Portal Inflammation: the portal areas are tiny tracts of connective tissue within the liver that contain branches of the portal vein, the hepatic artery and bile ducts.
Piecemeal Necrosis: this term describes necrosis (cellular death) and inflammation around the portal areas.
Fibrosis: the deposition of collagen fibers in the cell structure of the liver, forming scar tissue. The early stages of fibrosis are confined to the portal tracts.
Bridging Fibrosis: an intermediate stage of fibrosis are characterized by expansion of collagenous (scar) tissue to the portal tracts and bridging between portal areas.
Cirrhosis: a term used to describe significant deformation of the liver structure due to scarring.
Best of luck!
Hector
Thanks for your info again, back in 2002 i had a biopsy on my liver and they said that i had the fibrosis and that is all. how often should i have a biopsy? im taking alot of pain meds for my back and neck problems Propoxphene/tramadol, i also have DDD so im in pain alot, will these pain meds hurt me in the long run?im 48 yrs old and waiting to go in front of a judge for ssi/ssid i guess thats what it is. but anyway i am so glad to have joined this it helps. again-thanks. teresa. peace
Sorry to say this again. Teresa's hemo is normal. 13.6 for a woman is normal. 12 - 16 is normal range for adult women.
I don't say that she will not have to monitor her hemo anyway, but not more than anyone else who has normal hemo.
Marcia
I don't say that she will not have to monitor her hemo anyway, but not more than anyone else who has normal hemo.
Marcia
If you do decide to treat you will just need to keep a good eye on your hemo with it starting out a couple of points lower than what we see as "normal". Just put that in the back of your mind and forget about it for now though.
If you should see Alt and AST getting higher.........then perhaps you might want to seriously look into treating but after only 4 years of active infection you probably are doing very well still. The only way to really tell is a biopsy - but I'd imagine it would come back just fine.
Good luck!
If you should see Alt and AST getting higher.........then perhaps you might want to seriously look into treating but after only 4 years of active infection you probably are doing very well still. The only way to really tell is a biopsy - but I'd imagine it would come back just fine.
Good luck!
Just a little correction. Normal hemoglobin levels vary according to sex and age. So you hemoglobin levels are not low at all. Marcia
* Newborns: 17-22 gm/dl
* One (1) week of age: 15-20 gm/dl
* One (1) month of age: 11-15gm/dl
* Children: 11-13 gm/dl
* Adult males: 14-18 gm/dl
* Adult women: 12-16 gm/dl
* Men after middle age: 12.4-14.9 gm/dl
* Women after middle age: 11.7-13.8 gm/dl
* Newborns: 17-22 gm/dl
* One (1) week of age: 15-20 gm/dl
* One (1) month of age: 11-15gm/dl
* Children: 11-13 gm/dl
* Adult males: 14-18 gm/dl
* Adult women: 12-16 gm/dl
* Men after middle age: 12.4-14.9 gm/dl
* Women after middle age: 11.7-13.8 gm/dl
ALT/SGPT-64 UNITS/L (17-63)
AST/SGOT 53 IU/L (15-41)
BILLIRUBIN TOTAL-0.5 MG/DL (0.4-2.0)
GLOBULIN- 3.6 GM/DL
As I said pretty normal. ALT just high and AST a little high. These levels vary over time. Could be from drinking the night before or taking too many asprin or other meds.
Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT)
1. More specific for the liver than AST, but also present in kidney and muscle
2. Used to confirm that AST elevations are of liver origin (e.g., elevation of both AST and ALT strongly suggest hepatocellular injury)
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST)
1. AST is a cytoplasmic enzyme in liver, muscle, RBC's and other locations
2. Released from damaged cells; serum levels peak 24-36 hr after injury and normalize at 3-6 days if injury isn't ongoing
3. Highest elevations occur in viral hepatitis and hepatotoxicity (10-20 times the upper reference limit)
4. Mild-to-moderate (3-10 fold) elevations occur in chronic hepatitis, active cirrhosis, chronic passive congestion, drug-induced injury, metastatic tumor, biliary disease and a number of other conditions.
5. Cardiac and skeletal muscle injury will also produce substantial AST elevations.
So you are going to get a viral load and maybe a biopsy and then decide if you want to or should do treatment is what I'm guessing?
Let us know what the GI says.
Good luck!
Hector
AST/SGOT 53 IU/L (15-41)
BILLIRUBIN TOTAL-0.5 MG/DL (0.4-2.0)
GLOBULIN- 3.6 GM/DL
As I said pretty normal. ALT just high and AST a little high. These levels vary over time. Could be from drinking the night before or taking too many asprin or other meds.
Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT)
1. More specific for the liver than AST, but also present in kidney and muscle
2. Used to confirm that AST elevations are of liver origin (e.g., elevation of both AST and ALT strongly suggest hepatocellular injury)
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST)
1. AST is a cytoplasmic enzyme in liver, muscle, RBC's and other locations
2. Released from damaged cells; serum levels peak 24-36 hr after injury and normalize at 3-6 days if injury isn't ongoing
3. Highest elevations occur in viral hepatitis and hepatotoxicity (10-20 times the upper reference limit)
4. Mild-to-moderate (3-10 fold) elevations occur in chronic hepatitis, active cirrhosis, chronic passive congestion, drug-induced injury, metastatic tumor, biliary disease and a number of other conditions.
5. Cardiac and skeletal muscle injury will also produce substantial AST elevations.
So you are going to get a viral load and maybe a biopsy and then decide if you want to or should do treatment is what I'm guessing?
Let us know what the GI says.
Good luck!
Hector
thanks for getting back so soon,sorry i left that out here it is,ALT/SGPT-64 UNITS/L -AST/SGOT 53 IU/L - BILLIRUBIN TOTAL-0.5 MG/DL - GLOBULIN- 3.6 GM/DL
You have had 4 years now. That is a very short time for any liver damage to appear.
Your doctor wants to talk to a GI? Is that all he said? Nothing about treatment or anything else?
These test indicate you are healthy. The only items out of range were the Hemoglobin and Hematocrit which were slightly low. No ALT or AST tests? Bilirubin? Viral load results?
Maybe someone else can find something I don't see.
Platelet Count-312 thou/mcl,
RDW-13.9%
WBC Count 6.4 thou/mcl,
Red cell count-4.68m/mcl-
Hemoglobin-13.6gm/dl (13.5-18)
Hematocrit- 40.9% (42-52)
MCV-87.FL-
MCHC-33.1%-
sed-rate rbc-15mm/hr.
Good luck.
Hector
Your doctor wants to talk to a GI? Is that all he said? Nothing about treatment or anything else?
These test indicate you are healthy. The only items out of range were the Hemoglobin and Hematocrit which were slightly low. No ALT or AST tests? Bilirubin? Viral load results?
Maybe someone else can find something I don't see.
Platelet Count-312 thou/mcl,
RDW-13.9%
WBC Count 6.4 thou/mcl,
Red cell count-4.68m/mcl-
Hemoglobin-13.6gm/dl (13.5-18)
Hematocrit- 40.9% (42-52)
MCV-87.FL-
MCHC-33.1%-
sed-rate rbc-15mm/hr.
Good luck.
Hector
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