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hepatitis C

My husband has never really taken care of himself, I recently got him into the doctors after he was feeling ill. They did a lot of blood work his ast was 254 his alt was 405 she ordered upper endoscopy, colonoscopy,hep c ab w/reflex, hcv RNA,quant,rt and pcr. His results came back reactive to the hepatitis ab and his signal to cutoff is 27.80 which was flagged for high. He just had a full abdominal u/s this morning. I would like to know what does the SIGNAL TO CUTOFF mean. Thank you for your time
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Avatar universal
The signal to cutoff ratio (s/co) is highly accurate in predicting hep C viremia. The lower the number, the more likely the antibody test is a false positive. S/co eliminates the need for RIBA confirmatory testing. Some insurance companies insist on S/co in order to pay for HCV/RNA testing for viral load.
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2059648 tn?1439766665
Sorry....should have sent the above post to you.    Let us know your husband's results.  
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2059648 tn?1439766665
Welcome to the forum.

What it means is your husband has a high chance of being positive for Hepatitis C antibodies.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/What-exactly-is-the-signal-to-cut-off-ratio/show/509771

As stated above:  A RNA PCR quantitative test will confirm if your husband
has a viral load (active hepatits C).  25% clear the virus on their own and
only test positive for Hepatitis C antibodies.  If its confirmed that he has
no viral load then your husband doesn't have Hepatitis C.  If you test positive for Hepatitis C antibodies…. you will test positive for the rest of
your life.  But only if you have a viral load do you actually have Hepatitis C.

Hope this is helpful
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Avatar universal
The HCV antibody test indicates that he has been exposed to the virus at some point.  The autoimmune system of some folks will clear the virus without the need for treatment.  I'm not familiar with the "signal to cutoff" flag but the RNA PCR quantitative test she ordered is far more conclusive and will tell you the viral load, if present.  It may take several days to get the PCR results as most are sent to outside specialty labs for processing.

Should the PCR show that he has HCV there are excellent meds available today to cure him.

This will bump your post to the top and someone may come along that can answer your question.  The doctor you got him to has ordered some great tests, good job!

Take care,
marty

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