Viral load question

[shawna1968]

Hi everyone......I had posted a few weeks ago about my viral load being at O by my 3rd month of tx. At the 8th month my blood work came back as having a viral load of 245.  Obviously, I freaked out being in my 9th month of tx now.  Anyway, I went to another lab last week anf they just told me my bolld work was "Non-Detectable/below 615.  I am so confused!! What does this mean? Is the 245 a lab error and now it's ok? What is the exact number that they can detect to?  I hope this makes sense, I am soooo confused, is is working or not, the doctor's are too confusing!!

[Cindy10]

I know it is strange. They did the quantative and it came back <615 and then they did the qualitative (which goes to <10 and it showed detected. He stayed that way for a couple years without tx. Then it went to 10,000 and now is 60,000 and thats having it about 28 years.
Doc says he is resistant to the virus. He started tx 3 weeks ago, so doc seems to thing he will clear quick. we sure hope so.

[jboyhk]

Can you elaborate more on ur husbands condition? I have never heard of someone having <615 vl before treatment. Those low levels usually occur while on treatment and then move up higher significantly once treatment stops.

How did the dr. diagnose ur husband as having HepC when his vl was 'undetectable'?

[Cindy10]

Not to make you nervous but when hubby was diagnosed a few years back he tested <615 for quite some time (before tx) and doc said he still had the virus, just was somewhat resistant to it. When I had my 4 week (on tx) PCR I tested <615, but than the qualitative (which goes to <10) showed detected. At that time doc said not UND.

You need a qualitative test to know for sure.  

[mauilady]

There sure seems to be a lot of controversy over VL testing; now that I know Kaiser uses a "crude" (?) test, I am concerned, as my virus is now undetectable at 4 weeks, but that was based on <615... so I'm trying to get more info on the subject.  Thanks for the LabCorp test#; I will check it out.  I'm also waiting for an answer from CDC...

[prettydamscared]

I'm sorry to say this but I agree with HCA...it does sound like you had a viral breakthrough.  If you were clear at 3 months and then your 8th month pcr came back with a viral load of 245, that is pretty much the definition of a viral breakthrough.  Ask your 1st doctor immediately for the exact test that Hepatits Researcher mentioned in the post above.  It's a Lab Corp test, the # for it is 140639 and it is sensitive down to 2, as opposed to your second test which will only show if you have 615 or more virus in a ml of your blood.  In one of HR's posts, he talked about this test being excellent, partly because of the lab that it's sent to...it's known for being extremely safe and uncontaminated so would be excellent for determining if that 245 was a mistake or not.

Good luck with it and do it soon.  If you're positive at 8 months, there's probably not much point in continuing, unless you're hoping for improvement in your liver.

Charlotte

[Hepatitis Researcher]

HCAs analysis appears to be quite correct. I am saddened by the fact that a second opinion dr. would chose a totally inferior VL test to "confirm" a low level Vl under treatment. If he would have chosen the NGI Quantasure that measures down to 2 iU you would at least have been equipped with clarity - thats why you went for the second opinion anyway. Strange as it might sound, you should have asked here before you went to the second Dr. to be better equipped with personal knowledge.

[shawna1968]

I know I am a little unclear, I am sorry.  It is all very confusing to me...My Liver specialist, (the top guy at UCLA) is my liver doctor, he is where I got the 245 result.  I then a week later went to another liver specialist at Ceders-Sinai and he's the one who gave me the non-detectable/below 615.  How can these tests be so off? does it make any sense to have a )vl and then go up while on tx? especially I am 9 months into 12 month treatment? After all the hell of being on tx and for it not to work now? does this make  sense?

[Myown]

there is always the chance of contamination at the lab. have another test. a fellow on forum ,(RTS), showed alot higher than that (can't remember exact numbers) and he tested a couple more times. HE IS SVR! So whether it was contamination,lab error, or his body cleared it on its own, don't despair yet...get re-tested.

wish you the best!!

[HCA]

The test you had done only tests down to 615 i.u per ml.                                                        That's why it didn't pick up on the 245 the other test found.
Sadly from the information you have provided you may have experienced a phenomonon known as 'breakthrough' where the virus has re-established itself.
Discuss the situation with your doctor.
A 615 test is crude by todays standards,and in this critical situation you needed a state of the art second test.
Hope for the best for you!

[friole]

I am a little confused, but I think what you are saying is that the test at week 3 had a sensitivity of 615 but the test you had at 9 months did not -- maybe the sensitivity was 5o or less on this one.  Is that correct?

I suspect you have not had a viral breakthru but may never have been clear to begin with.  This news must be just crushing, 9 months into tx -- I would definitely suggest asking for a retest.  Ask specifically for a heptimax sensitive to 5IU if your lab used Quest or a QuantaSure (sensitive to 2IU) if your lab used LabCorp.

What were your interim test results and what was the sensitivity of the tests?  
frijole