Red spots

[pjhep80]

i have one on my collarbone and im totally freaking out...isnt this a symptom of cirrosis????  i dont have any other symptoms and my last biop about 4 years ago said stage 2 grade 2... could i have gone from that to cirrosis in 4 years?  i

just had an sound and some blood work including a Fibroscan, i go back to the dr beginning of Nov to go over the results and decide if i want to try and treat again...  

[jmjm530]

Red spots are very common both in the HCV and general population. I've had red spots on my collar bone (and other places) and I do not have cirrhosis. May I ask where you had your Fibroscan and who gave it to you? Are you sure it was a Fibroscan and not an Ultrasound? I ask because Fibroscan is only available in a few U.S. sites and mostly in a trial setting. Also, when I got my Fibroscan, the results were given to me on the spot.

-- Jim

[nygirl7]

You need another biopsy - a stage 2 COULD go to cirrhosis in a short amount of time (although I certainly don't think your red spot suggest anything) and someone with hep should definitely be keeping an eye while they watch and wait.

Which is why they call it watch and wait.  Once you get to stage 3 you are really out of time before you need to start looking in to treatment because from there unfortunately it's just a hop skip and jump.

If you did have the Fibro be warned, it's easier but NOT as exacting as the biopsy - at stage 2 you really should be having the biopsy so you are sure exactly where to stand. You are running out of wiggle room and an incorrect diagnosis could be life threatening.

[pjhep80]

ya i have been avoiding another biopsy, my first one was 4 years ago... when i go back to the doc in Nov he said he might try to get me on another trial so i would have one then..

the Fibro test i had was just a blood test done at Labcorp, it's called Fibrosure they developed it and my insurance actually covered it !! nj blue cross/blue sheild... i am gueessing if i am progressing to cirrosis this will show it also, here is the info on the test:

LabCorp® Announces U.S. Launch Of Exclusive Liver Fibrosis Assay HCV Fibrosure™
Burlington, NC, March 17, 2004 - Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (NYSE: LH) today announced the availability of HCV FIBROSURE™, a noninvasive blood test for assessing liver status in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Developed by leading hepatologists at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital and BioPredictive in France, HCV FIBROSURE™ is only available in the United States through LabCorp.

HCV FIBROSURE™ provides an easily accessible alternative to liver biopsy, which physicians use to assess liver fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity in HCV patients. While liver biopsy has long been considered the gold standard to monitor the status of HCV and determine therapy options, it is an invasive procedure that carries a risk of serious complications. HCV FIBROSURE™ uses a combination of six serum biochemical markers plus age and gender in a patented algorithm to determine the degree of liver fibrosis and the level of ongoing necroinflammatory activity. The test, which has been clinically available in Europe for the past two years, has been shown in several studies to enable quantitative, reproducible assessment of fibrogenic and necrotic activity in the liver of HCV patients.

"The launch of this important new test once again validates LabCorp's strategy of creating a world-class national laboratory with the best and broadest array of diagnostic testing services," said Myla P. Lai-Goldman, M.D., executive vice president, chief scientific officer and medical director at LabCorp. "Our focus on bringing forth innovative new technologies and tests, coupled with our scientific expertise and national scope, helps us broadly deliver vital new tools like BioPredictive's liver fibrosis assay to U.S. physicians managing HCV patients."

BioPredictive is currently researching clinical use of this test for other disease populations, including hepatitis B, HIV-HCV, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic steato hepatitis (NASH). "We anticipate that HCV FIBROSURE™ will prove to be just the first in a family of innovative, noninvasive diagnostic testing products aimed at hepatitis and non-hepatitis-related conditions," said Dr. Thierry Poynard, a world-renowned hepatologist, head of Hepato-Gastrotroenterology department in Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, and researcher and founder of BioPredictive. "We look forward to continuing our relationship with LabCorp and building upon their expertise in the world of hepatitis testing for future products."

HCV FIBROSURE™ is recommended for use to assess liver status following a diagnosis of HCV, as a baseline determination of liver status before initiating HCV therapy, as post-treatment assessment of liver status six months after therapy completion, and for noninvasive assessment of liver status in patients at risk of complications from a liver biopsy. The blood sample for HCV FIBROSURE™ can be collected in minutes and results can be returned to the physician within days. The test uses six biochemical markers that are routine and considered standard of care in the United States.

[pjhep80]

ya thats it exactly !

thank you all for your input ... im ok now ... haha yea right

i was NEVER a worrier or a hypochondriac before i had this stupid virus... now im close to panic attacks over the littlest thing sometimes i hate it

[jmjm530]

Fibrosure is not the same as "Fibroscan" per your first post. I'm assuming then that you did not have a Fibroscan that I believe NYGirl is talking about. Fibrosure is a blood test. Fibroscan is a non-evasive device that measures liver stiffness and translates/correlates it into a stage.

[Xenigma]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_navi

I was reading aout this condition at the above site
(wikipedia) and this poem was there...

An older Miss Muffett

Decided to rough it

And lived upon whisky and gin.

Red hands and a spider

Developed outside her

For such are the wages of sin.

[IAmTheWalrus]

LOL!!

[PegOnPeg]

Yup, I've got one of those...NP told me it was from the virus...I am G-1, bx stage 2-3...she also asked to see my hands...the balls of my palms are red...all the time...NP said that can be hormonal or virus...

I don't think the spider veins go away....it'll be yet another scar from this...

[pjhep80]

yes i did not have a Fibroscan... just the Fibrosure blood test, i thought it was called Fibroscan

thanks again everyone for the input... and the funny poem LOL

[tissel]

That is one twisted little ****** up poem.